


White Snow: Consecration

by Vhetin1138



Series: White Snow: Year 1 [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Bounty Hunters, Mandalorian, Sith Stalker (Force Unleashed-style), Sith Survivors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 23:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 74,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16028084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vhetin1138/pseuds/Vhetin1138
Summary: When a well-known Mandalorian bounty huntress goes missing, Cin Vhetin and Jay sign up as part of a search team mounted to find her. But there are dark and deadly enemies waiting in the shadows, watching the hunters’ every move. Enemies who harness the dark side of the Force and will allow no one - least of all bounty hunters - to stand in the way of their plans.Joined by the missing huntress’ allies - a Wookiee warrior with a lift debt to pay and a Mandalorian mechanic with a taste for the good things in life - they set out into the galaxy, determined to fulfill their contract. Working together, they will come back with Kestra Hett, or they won’t come back at all.





	1. Draco's Captive

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: This story, and subsequent ones in the Year 1 series, has not been fully re-edited for errors and quality. They will be updated at a later date. Thanks for your patience.

“Even the strongest warrior can fall. It is the duty of his comrades to then pick him back up.”

\- Epitaph of Mandalore the Defender

**~~~~~~~~**

Mustafar was not a peaceful world. The sky was dark and full of clouds of ash, lit intermittently from within by flashes of dirty white lightning. The thunder was a distant, feeble rumble as opposed to the crashing explosion of sound that the Dark Lord Draco preferred. Thankfully, the sea of molten lava made up for the thunder’s slack. Even now, it exploded upward in a fountain of red-hot magma, arcing into the sky with a malevolent roar before pattering in fat, heavy droplets back into the river from which it had come.

Draco sat cross-legged on the observation post, floating a few centimeters above the ground, eyes closed and hands folded palm-up on his lap. The cortosis blades that sprouted from the fingers of his gloves twitched sporadically, but otherwise he was completely still, barely even breathing.

Scattered around him was the bloody carnage of a recent battlefield. Imperial stormtroopers and gray-suited officers alike lay strewn in smoldering pieces around the landing pad, evidence of a recent battle of which he was the only survivor.

 _Peace is a lie_ , he thought, a slight smile tugging at his ravaged lips. _There is only passion_.

Another world-shaking eruption of magma was propelled into the sky on a pillar of escaping gas and heat. Some of the magma droplets splattered against the scarlet blade of the lightsaber that hung activated in mid-air before him. They evaporated with a sizzle and a hiss of steam. Any that could have hit Draco splattered instead against an invisible bubble of energy that enveloped him.

 _Through passion,_ he continued, a frown crossing his helmeted face, _I gain strength._

As he meditated, lightning began to crackle along the lengths of the razor blades on his fingers, purple-white flashes of light that sizzled and popped and threw sparks down on the ground beneath him. The arcing tendrils of energy hissed and sizzled through the air, whining and snarling like a tormented animal.

 _Through strength, I gain power_.

His lightsaber began to tremble and a rumble filled the air, stronger than the thunder and the explosions of unstable magma combined. His face pulled down into a full scowl now, and his hands balled into clenched fists. Lightning now speared up and down his arms, lighting on his black suit for moments before dancing away again.

 _Through power_ , he thought, feeling hatred race through his heart like a flood of heat, _I gain victory._

Suddenly, the rasping mechanical sound of a life-support suit’s respirator sounded over the chaotic rumbling of Mustafar, and Draco’s yellow-tinged eyes snapped open. With a shout of fury he leaped forward, snatched his lightsaber from the air, and spun, bringing it about in a reversed Shien combat position. Barely thinking, he raised the saber in a defensive parrying move.

The scarlet lightsaber of the Dark Lord Darth Vader clashed against his, throwing sparks onto the durasteel beneath their feet. Draco snarled like an animal into Vader’s contoured face mask.

“I have come,” he growled, “to fulfill my destiny.”

Vader said nothing. He wrenched his own lightsaber away and slashed down at Draco, every movement an expression of sheer power and might. Draco backpedaled and batted the Sith Lord’s lightsaber aside, slashing forward and stabbing with all the strength he could muster. Vader knocked the blows aside with little effort and stepped forward, his cape billowing out behind him in the hot Mustafari wind.

The echoing wheeze of his respirator reflected the dirty rasp of Draco’s own breathing as the smaller combatant stepped back and unleashed a barrage of purple lightning at the Sith Lord. The lightning caught Vader in the chest, dancing over his multicolored chest plate and popping the status lights there like tiny firecrackers. Vader staggered back and fell to his knees. Draco took two steps forward and lashed out with his boot, hitting Vader in the wrist. Vader’s lightsaber skittered away across the landing pad and deactivated with a hiss.

Draco towered over Vader, staring at his opponent with pure hatred through the thin T-slit visor of his helmet. He raised his own scarlet saber over his head, readying himself for a killing stroke.

 _Through victory_ , he thought, _my chains are broken._

“You are an insult to the Sith,” he whispered, his voice quivering with rage. The dark side of the Force flowed through him, making lightning pour from his fingertips and wrap around the blade of his saber in dancing arcs of light. “A pale reflection of the glory we once possessed. And as such, you must be destroyed.”

He was about to plunge the saber down through his hated enemy’s helmet, but the sound of an approaching ship’s engines caught his attention. He hesitated, then looked up into the ashy sky. In an instant, the image of a kneeling, subdued Vader vanished from his view, evaporating into black ash and drifting away on the muggy breeze. The mirage wasted away in the blink of an eye, forgotten almost as soon as it passed from Draco’s view.

The man who remained quickly deactivated his saber and hooked it against one of the belts wrapped around his hips, adding it to the six other trophy sabers stored there. He glanced once more at the spot the would-be Sith dog had occupied, then strode away, his black belt-skirt blown about by the hot wind.

An unfamiliar freighter roared overhead, rotating slowly in mid-air before lowering itself onto the landing pad below. As Draco studied the ship, he saw that the name _Kar'ta Tor_ was painted onto one bulkhead. The ship groaned as its weight settled onto thick landing legs, coolant steam blasting from vents scattered about its ventral hull. Then was still save for the ever-present eruptions of white-hot lava from the magma river.

With a creaking whine, the exit ramp slid down and hit the durasteel pad beneath with a hefty _clunk_. Three dark figures cautiously strode out, red lightsabers lit in hand as they surveyed the mining outpost with unreadable expressions hidden behind angular helmets. Draco stepped up to them and bowed his head.

“My friends,” he said, gesturing to them with a razor-bladed hand. “I welcome you to our new home.”

The tallest among them, wearing a ribbed combat jacket that left his muscular arms bare, surveyed the area with a hooded head and nodded. His motions carried the slow elegance and grace only a lifelong warrior could achieve.

“Yes, Lord Draco, this will do nicely.”

He clenched a fist - outfitted with bladed fingers like Draco’s - and his gaze lingered on the remains that were scattered around the landing pad.

“The Imperial presence?” he asked.

“Eradicated,” Draco replied with a smug smile he knew none could see.

Another of the newcomers, a wiry Sith Knight with full-body armor and arms that melted into fearsome mechanical prosthetics at the elbow, stared at Draco through a T-slit helmet identical to his own and rasped, “Are you sure? We cannot afford to be discovered. Not not.”

Draco’s hand rested almost casually on the hilt of his saber and he quietly said, “Do you doubt my powers?”

Another fully-armored figure, this one a tall female, stepped in front of the knight and said, “My apprentice meant nothing by it, Darth Draco. Calm yourself; he meant no harm.”

Draco narrowed his eyes, but removed his hand from his saber. “Lady Tillipi. Tell me of your mission. What of our guest?”

"Captured and restrained with little effort. She struggled, but was eventually subdued. Our mission gave pride to the Stalkers.” Tillipi gestured to someone still within the ship and spat orders in the ancient tongue of the Lords of the Sith. At her orders, two more armor-clad Stalkers brought their guest down the ramp, bound by anchored stun cuffs to a heavy slab of durasteel.

It was a humanoid girl, no older than fourteen or fifteen. Draco sneered behind his helmet and thought, _The perfect age for conversion. Good..._

The girl struggled against her bonds, defiant to the end. Even now she shouted, “Get your disgusting hands off me you _shabla dar‘jettise!_ Let me _go_!”

Draco stepped forward and made a fist with his hand. The dark side surged through him and the girl suddenly gasped and choked, struggling to draw full breath. He was sure she would have clutched and clawed at her throat had her hands not been bound.

“Cease your struggle,” Draco murmured, leaning in close to the girl and running a single mounted blade down the side of her face. The razor-sharp blade cut the skin lightly and a thin tendril of blood snaked down the girl’s cheek. “You will understand all soon enough.”

The girl coughed, then spat at Draco’s faceplate. The Sith Lord recoiled and wiped spittle from his helmet with a clawed hand. Though amusement swelled within him at her continued defiance, he considered striking her to assert his authority in the eyes of his captive and his fellows. But doing so would only show that her display of defiance had rattled him.

It had not.

So he instead stepped away and let out a warbling chuckle. “You have spirit, young one. That is to be commended.”

She scowled at him, still struggling against her restraints. “Where am I?”

He gestured to the mining facility around them and said, “Welcome, youngling, to Mustafar. Officially known as Imperial Mining Outpost Thirty-Two-B. It will be your home for the next months.”

“K... kriff you,” the girl spat.

One of the Stalkers did now show as much restraint as Draco. The man backhanded her across the face, hard enough to jerk her head to the side. She cried out and fell silent.

Draco quickly motioned to the Stalker. “Enough. Pain only grants her strength. Do not provide her with a weapon to use against us.”

He paused, then added, “That comes later.”

The girl panted for a few moments, then looked up at him again with a defiant stare. “You... you’re Sith, aren’t you?”

Draco grinned again and placed a palm against his armored chest proudly. “Indeed we are, my young friend. I am the Dark Lord Draco. And you...”

He stepped closer and spread his palm, placing the blades of his fingers only millimeters from the girl’s face. The air shimmered between her sweaty forehead and the black material of his glove like a heat wave. Draco closed his eyes, basking in the rush of images and information that suddenly flooded his mind. She grimaced and let out a tiny whimper, no doubt unsettled and tormented by the dominance of his power. After a few long moment, he opened his eyes again and met the girl’s defiant gaze.

“You,” he said slowly, “are Kestra Hett, born to Faberian royalty, adopted by Mandalorians."

The girl’s eyes widened slightly but she was unable to tear her gaze from Draco's contoured faceplate. He let his eyes roll back in his head as he saw image after image flash through his mind's eye.

"You are considered an adult by your adopted culture, even at your young age," he continued. "a freedom you very much enjoy. Your family, the Faberian Handmaidens, were killed when you were still young and you now harbor a burning hatred for the beings who destroyed them. You pursue him with the determination of one who believes they have nothing more to lose."

The girl instantly fell still, staring at him with open horror.

"Interesting," he murmured, pulling his hand back, "that one so young could harbor so much hatred. It has corrupted you, twisted you. I am sure, had you been in control of your emotion, my Stalkers would have faced a much greater challenge bringing you to me.”

Tillipi chuckled maliciously and said, “The Mandalorians should rethink their position on sending younglings into the field before they are ready.”

Draco silenced her with a single glance, then turned his dark scrutiny back to Kestra. The girl’s gaze was tinged with fear as he slowly brushed the blades of his hands across her face again.

“W-what do you want with me?” she whispered.

He leaned closer to her and replied, “It may interest you know that I too seek to destroy those who have wronged me. Just as the Mandalorians oppose Imperial rule, so to do the Sith.”

“T-the Sith are gone,” Kestra hissed.

“You are wrong. The Sith have survived through the millenia,” he said proudly, “and we, the Stalkers, are the guardians of my people’s ancient traditions. Sentinels of the Order, guardians of the dark.”

“No,” the girl said, shaking her head and cringing away from Draco’s cold touch. “No, the Sith are dead. Only Darth Vader is left-”

Now it was Draco who slapped her and snarled, “If you _ever_ speak that name again, I will gut you where you hang, mercenary _filth_!”

She slumped against her restraints, breathing hard as blood dripped down her face. Draco took a deep breath, calming himself and pushing his rage deep down. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and controlled.

“I sense that you carry the bloodline of one of the Old Sith,” he said. He leaned close again and whispered, “The Force is indeed strong with you, young one. My order will benefit greatly from your powers. And so you will join us... or you will die.”

The girl began struggling again and cried, “No! Leave me alone!”

Draco spun on his heel and strode back toward the mining facility, gesturing for the others to follow him and calling, “Bring her! We have much to do!”


	2. Strange Assailants

**Sector AA-CH Spaceport, Nar Shadda**

Vhetin surveyed the empty starport docking area with his thumbs hooked into his belt, waiting for his helmet's HUD systems to finish their diagnostic of the area. While he waited, he turned to the Mandalorian in red armor standing near the door.

"You're sure this is where she was last seen?" he asked.

The Mando nodded emphatically, glancing at the towering Wookiee standing next to him. "Yeah. We both saw her here before we left."

"When?"

"Five days ago," he answered, fidgeting with the hilt of his _beskad_ saber as the Wookiee lowed mournfully. "Since then... nothing."

Venku Skirata stepped up next to Vhetin with a sigh. He looked around the area with a weary look on his face, then turned to the black-armored bounty hunter.

"So what do you think?"

"Well..." Vhetin said, consulting his HUD. The diagnostic finished its search of the area, signaling him with a synthetic buzz over his helmet's speakers. He quickly read through the report it gave him. "There's only a few signs of foul play, so if there was a struggle it was pretty short."

The door leading into the spaceport suddenly slid open with a hiss and Jay jogged into the dock, breathing hard.

"I came as soon as I got your message," she panted as she stepped past the towering Wookiee. "Although I don't know why we had to come here all the way from Mandalore. You sounded like someone had died: what's wrong?"

"We have a new assignment," Vhetin said, still looking around the spaceport, "but a little different than usual."

"What's the job?" she asked, glancing at the Mandalorian and his Wookiee companion. "And who are you two?"

"This is Ge'tal Gra'tua," Venku introduced, gesturing to the red-armored Mandalorian. "And his furry companion is Shuk'orok. Guys, this is Jay Kol-"

He was cut off as Jay cleared her throat loudly. Venku glanced at her, then said, "Uh, I mean, Jaimie Moqena. She's Vhetin's new partner."

Shuk'orok grunted and thumped his chest with a massive paw while Ge'tal nodded and said, "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Jay said, frowning slightly at them, "but what exactly is going on?"

"Sometime during the last week," Vhetin explained, still continuing his survey of the area, "the crew of the freelance transport _Kar'ta Tor_ were sent out for a night here on Nar Shadda. They had just completed a contract and were released for some R-and-R. They showed up the next day for work, and their captain was nowhere to be seen."

"Ominous."

"They thought she'd slipped away for some side-job, but it's now five days later and they've had no word from her. So they came to us for help."

"Who's the captain?" Jay inquired.

"A friend of mine," Vhetin said. "Kestra Hett."

"Wait a minute, Kestra?" Jay said disbelievingly. "She's gone missing?"

Vhetin paused and half-turned to her. "You know each other?"

She nodded. "We've had a few drinks at the _Oyu'baat_ , hung out a bit around town. We met just after the Battle Circle Tournament a couple weeks ago. She's missing?"

Venku nodded and she bit her lower lip, staring at the ground. "Well... was she kidnapped?"

"We don't know," Venku said as Vhetin silently traced his fingers over what looked like a cooled half-meter lightsaber burn in the wall. Turning away, he stepped closer to the center of the docking bay, kneeling next to a set of small bloodstains on the ground. He traced his fingers along the stains before saying, "There's evidence here that someone was dragged toward the ship when it was docked here. The bloodstains are faint enough to have been made by someone in armor."

"How can you tell?" Ge'tal asked.

Jay glanced at him and said, "I thought you guys were bounty hunters too. Shouldn't you know this?"

"Piss off _aruetii_ ," the Mando snapped. "You're just a rookie. What would you know?"

"Quiet, both of you," Vhetin hissed. He pointed to the bloodstains, which were already dry, and said, "See the way the blood randomly breaks up on the duracrete? There's no pools of blood, no splatter marks, just a fairly linear smear. That means whoever was here wasn't bleeding directly onto the metal. The blood was smeared on something else that was being dragged across the ground."

He stood and brushed his gloves off. "My bet? Armor plates. A thigh guard, maybe a shin plate would be my guess. The blood was smeared across the plate, which was in turn scraped across the ground as Kestra was dragged away."

"So she was kidnapped," Venku sighed. "Great. Who in the hell would have the balls to knock out and kidnap a Mando bounty huntress?"

Vhetin shook his head. "Kestra is young. And in many cultures beings aren't considered mature until they are older. Most usually don't see people her age as adults. Or your age, for that matter, Venku."

Venku rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know."

"My guess," Vhetin murmured, walking slowly around the circular dock, "is that someone mistook Kestra for a helpless child and thought she would be an easy ransom."

"I hope she was at least able to show them she wasn't so helpless," Ge'tal muttered, folding his gauntleted arms across his chest.

"I don't mean to dash your hopes," Vhetin said, still looking around the docking bay, "but there's no indications here that she's still alive."

Shuk'orok let out a howl and Ge'tal glanced at the Wookiee before saying, "I agree. There's no way some spaceport pervert could kill Kestra. She's tougher than that."

"I don't deny it," Vhetin said. "But we have evidence that she was forcibly taken from the scene, that she was probably wounded at the time. We have no idea who took her, where they took her, or even why. There's no reason she would have been taken as part of a revenge plot or that she was kidnapped for a ransom. There's literally nothing to go off of."

"So you're just giving up?" Ge'tal said disbelievingly.

"No," he replied. "But even Boba Fett needs something to follow, some kind of evidence to start from, to bring his targets in."

"Can you two think of anything unusual that happened over the past few weeks?" Venku asked the two bounty hunters. "Something that could have been the culprit testing your defenses?"

Shuk'orok silently shook his furry head. Ge'tal chuckled, though there was little humor in the sound. "We're bounty hunters. Since when is anything in our life _not_ unusual?"

Jay snorted quietly and murmured, "I have to agree with that."

"Whoever this was," Vhetin murmured, staring around the docking bay, "they knew what they were doing. You said that _Kar'ta Tor_ was only docked here a few hours?"

Ge'tal nodded.

"Then this was a planned, precise strike. Not the work of your average idiot thug. These guys knew exactly who their target was and how to get at her."

"So what are you going to do?"

He pulled his glove off, eyeing the cooled slash mark on the wall. "The only thing I can do to gather more evidence."

Jay sighed quietly as he walked toward the slash mark; he knew she still wasn't quite comfortable with him using his psychometry ability. She knew better than to argue its legitimacy or its usefulness in situations like this, but she had told him that such supernatural abilities made her nervous.

He didn't blame her. While wrapped up in the memories he could draw from objects, he became unresponsive to all physical stimuli. Scientists had researched similar abilities in other species and likened the state to a meditative trance or coma. When he himself used the ability, his eyes were consumed with pale blue light and a strange, smoke-like discharge. He'd seen footage of himself using the power and he had to agree with Jay; it was certainly unnerving. He didn’t like using it often, as using it often left him fatigued and plagued by a powerful migraine.

Nevertheless, it was the only way to find out what had happened here, so they would both have to set aside with her discomfort for the sake of the mission. He traced his fingertips along the cooled slash mark, then pressed his palm flat to the cold metal and closed his eyes.

A familiar ache began to pound behind his eyes and he was aware of his fingertips tingling, like an electrical charge was coursing through his veins. A loud rushing sound began to fill his mind, drowning out all other sounds. There was a silent flash of white light, then an image sprang to life in his mind's eye.

He saw the circular docking bay, wavering as if the entire image was lit by flickering light. There was a ship docked in the center of the area, and there was no slash mark on the wall. Every few seconds the image would shake and sputter like an unstable hologram, then everything suddenly stopped. The image faded out to black with a loud sucking sound, leaving him in silence and darkness.

He opened his eyes and let out a short gasp. It had been too long since he’d done something like this. He needed to concentrate harder, regardless of the headache he’d inevitably be left with. He closed his eyes once more and placed his palm against the wall once more. With effort, he was able to call the image back to his mind again. After a few shaky moments, the image began to move again.

He saw the landing pad of the ship swing down and hit the docking bay floor with a _thud_. A young woman dressed in hooded black body armor strode down the ramp, a black-furred canine creature curling around her legs as she did.

 _Kestra_ , Vhetin thought, recognizing her instantly. She was older than he remembered, almost fifteen now, but her Faberian body armor and her confident stride gave her identity away instantly.

After a few moments, Ge'tal and Shuk'orok followed Kestra into the dock, and she turned to them.

" _Good job, guys_ ," she said, folding her arms across her chest. Her voice echoed loudly, reverberating in Vhetin's mind. The canine creature rubbed against her legs one more time before slinking away and disappearing into the ship. " _I just got comm confirmation that the bounty is in the accounts, so we're done with this contract_."

" _Great_ ," Ge'tal said. " _So... where are we?_ "

" _The Nar Shadda entertainment sector_ ," Kestra said. " _I've decided to let you two off for a break, since you performed so well on the Tenabras contract._ "

She handed each of the bounty hunters a handful of credits, saying, " _Here's your shares of the bounty. Spend it as you wish and for_ te Manda's _sake, don't wind up in jail or I'll have to shoot you myself._ "

Ge'tal and Shuk'orok took the credits, but the red-armored Mandalorian narrowed his eyes and said, " _Hey... is everything all right with you, cap? You've never let us off on a break before. You aren't planning to do something stupid, are you?_ "

" _Even if I was, there wouldn't be anything you could do to stop me_ ," she said. _"Stop worrying; I'm not going to do anything stupid. I've just got some work to do onboard and I can't get it done if I'm tripping over your sorry hides every few seconds."_

Ge'tal stared at his captain, but Shuk'orok lowed at him and the Mandalorian slowly followed his furry companion out of the docking bay. Ge'tal cast one last glance toward his captain before turning and disappearing deeper into the spaceport.

Kestra watched her crewmembers leave, then sighed, resting a hand casually against her hip only inches from the pistol she had holstered there.

" _I know you're here_ ," she said, seemingly speaking to empty air. " _You've been following me for three days now_."

At first, Vhetin thought she was talking to herself — she did that sometimes — but there was only a moment's pause before a gravely, menacing voice echoed through the docking bay.

" _Your crewmembers seem worried about you,_ " it said, " _youngling._ "

Kestra scowled and shook her hooded head. " _Leave them out of this. Whatever you want, it's between you and me._ "

She turned and looked around herself, studying the docking bay.

" _Show yourself_ ," she demanded.

At the sound of her voice, all the light in the open-roof docking bay seemed to be drawn away; clouds covered the sun, throwing the area into shadow, the wall-mounted illuminators flickered and died. Kestra glanced at all this but didn't move, her hand drifting closer and closer to her pistol.

Suddenly, a dark figure slunk over the roofline, crawling on all fours.

Vhetin concentrated hard on the new figure, just as Kestra was. It was a skinny humanoid wearing fearsome-looking body armor. He was wearing a form-fitting armor vest that swooped upward to a point at his collarbone and had a leathery combat skirt hanging from his belt. A large neck collar was fastened to his shoulder, similar to a neck guard Brianna liked to wear. His thin arms were a sickly greenish color and his fingers were long and spidery. Pulled over his head was a contoured helmet that, with a T-bar visor and a boxy vocoder, looked like a blend of Mandalorian and Ubese designs.

Kestra's lip curled in revulsion. " _What the hell are you and what do you want with me?_ "

The creature crawled along the roofline before slinking over the edge and miraculously clinging to the face of the wall with his bare hands. He stopped and hung from the wall, staring at Kestra through the sinister visor of his helmet.

" _My superiors have ordered me to bring you to them. Exactly why is beyond me._ "

Kestra scowled and said, " _I'm not going with you_."

" _That is not your choice,_ " the being said. It crept further down the wall and flipped up, hanging by a single hand from the flat wall like a demented ape-lizard. " _You will come with me or I will kill you_."

" _That might be easier said than done_ ," Kestra replied, drawing her pistol and aiming it squarely at the being's helmet forehead.

The creature released his hold and plummeted to the ground below. As he straightened, he pulled a metallic cylinder from his belt. With a loud _snap-hiss_ , a glowing scarlet bar of light erupted from his fist and Kestra's eyes widened slightly.

Vhetin was shocked as well; a _lightsaber_? Whoever Kestra had crossed, they were more dangerous than he'd originally thought.

" _It is pointless to resist,_ " the creature threatened. " _Don't make me destroy you._ "

Kestra narrowed her eyes, then simply fired off three shots at the armored being. He barely flinched as he swung his saber blade up and batted the blaster shots out of the air. The bolts ricocheted off the blade, hitting the walls and leaving dark burns behind.

" _You fool_ ," the being said, taking another step forward.

But Kestra was anything if not determined. She didn't flinch away from the red blade, instead pulling a twin pistol from her other hip and unleashing a barrage of bright red bolts at the armored creature. The being erupted into a whirlwind of motion, spinning his saber around his body and deflecting all the bolts away. He barely paused as she fired at him as fast as possible.

But her weapons wouldn't last forever, and the armored man sprinted for her as she paused order to reload. She cursed as the creature ran at her, raising his saber over his head.

She jumped into motion, ducking under the slash and driving her gloved fist into his ribs. He grunted in pain, but backhanded her across the face with his fist. She cried out and staggered away before pulling a vibroblade from a sheath on her belt and going at him again.

Kestra had been trained in the Teräs Käsi martial arts by the same woman who had taught Vhetin. If it was possible, the young girl was even faster than he was. When armed with a blade, she was virtually unstoppable.

She ducked another blow and sliced her glowing green blade along the being's shoulder before pivoting and stabbing it deep into the small of the being's back. He arched his back in pain, letting out a raspy scream before driving his elbow into Kestra's face.

She stumbled back and fell onto the ground, scrambling away as the armored creature yanked the bloody vibroblade from his back and threw it away with a shout of rage. As Kestra retreated, moving toward the cover offered by her docked ship, he snarled at her and cocked his arm back. With a shout of effort, he hurled his saber at her. It spun like a boomerang, arcing across the docking bay toward her. As it flew, it gouged a familiar-looking meter-long strip from the wall.

Kestra somersaulted out of the way as the saber flashed past her, coming to her feet in a combat-ready Teräs Käsi stance. The weapon clattered away, the blade deactivating with a hiss as it did. She tensed and jumped for her opponent once more.

But the armored being had other plans; he leveled his arms at her and shouted, " _Enough!_ "

Blue-white lightning erupted from his fingertips, enveloping Kestra in a sparking, crackling pen of energy. She screamed and fell to her knees, writhing in agony as the lightning curled over her body. The creature snarled behind his facemask, continuing the storm of lightning until Kestra pleaded, " _Stop! Please, stop!"_

Only then did he ease off, breathing hard and clenching his fists. Dark red blood dripped down his armor, but he stepped forward calmly until he towered over Kestra.

" _As I said,_ " he growled. " _It is pointless to resist. Now you will come with me_."

Kestra shook her head, panting as the last remnants of Force Lightning crackled over her arms and shoulders. She staggered to her feet, holding one hand to her ribs as she retreated back toward the safety of her ship.

" _N-no_ ," she managed to choke out. " _No, I'm not going anywhere with you_."

" _You have no choice,_ ” the armored being said.

Kestra fell silent, panting. The being relaxed, obviously thinking himself victorious.

But the young bounty huntress had one last trick up her sleeve. With a shout of effort, she launched herself at the armored being. Another loud _snap-hiss_ sounded through the docking bay and a glowing blue bar of slight erupted from the cylinder clenched tight in her hand. The being shouted in surprise and backpedaled frantically, throwing out an arm in a frenzied attempt to summon his lightsaber back to his palm.

He was already too late; Kestra thrust her blue saber forward, impaling the being through the chest. Sparks flew from the energy blade and the being convulsed, letting out a raspy scream. Kestra pulled her saber from his chest, spun, and slashed a neck level, taking his head off at the shoulders.

His helmet bounced, seemingly in slow-motion, across the docking bay floor before his decapitated body crumpled to the ground in a clatter of armor plating.

Kestra stood alone once more, breathing hard as she stared down at the body at her feet. She deactivated her lightsaber and hooked the hilt on her belt before pulling her wrinkled hood back over her head, grabbing her comlink, and preparing to enter in a dialing code.

Before she could, there was a sputtering _snap_ and tendrils of brilliant purple lightning enveloped her from behind. She dropped her comlink and screamed as she was lifted into the air by invisible hands, writhing and shrieking. As the lightning popped and sizzled around her, she was thrown against the exterior bulkhead of her ship. She hit the metal, bounced off, and crumpled to the ground.

Vhetin tensed, nothing but an observer as he saw half a dozen figures identical to the armor-wearing nightmare slink out of the shadows of the spaceport. They must have been there the whole time, watching the duel unfold just as he had been. They stepped out from behind support columns, crept down the vertical face of the walls like nightmarish, armored spider-apes, or simply marched out of mid-air as their bodies shimmered like heat waves over the desert. Within moments, they surrounded Kestra’s limp form, staring down at her through the expressionless T-visors of their sinister, contoured helmets.

After a few moments of silence one of them, a female, knelt next to Kestra and grabbed her with a mechanical hand with fingers that were capped with long, lethal-looking razor blades. Digging her knife-like fingers into Kestra’s hair, she yanked the girl’s head back and snarled, “ _Are you Jedi_?”

Kestra’s eyes watered as she was yanked back into consciousness. “ _What? I... I don_ _’t_ -”

“ _Are. You._ Jedi?” the woman shouted, digging her fingers harder into the back of Kestra’s head. Blood began trickling down her face, dripping onto the ground around her.

“ _I... no! No, I_ _’m... not a Jedi_!” The young woman screamed, then gasped and slipped into unconsciousness again.

With a snarl, the armored woman let Kestra drop to the ground. She stood and gestured to the other beings.

“ _Get the girl onboard the ship. Lord Draco wants her delivered to the rendezvous point as quickly as possible. Tera and Xenophon, gather up Giren_ _’s body and get him on the ship as well. We will not leave any evidence._ ”

As the other beings jumped to their tasks, the woman surveyed the empty dock. She began muttering to herself as she walked around the area, brushing her razor-bladed fingertips along all the signs of battle; the bloodstains on the duracrete floor, the blaster burns on the walls. Vhetin tensed as she approached the burn mark in the wall, where he could still feel himself standing. She brushed her metallic fingers over the surface of the burn, looking as if she were standing only inches from Vhetin’s face.

 _I_ _’m just glad this is a memory_ , he thought as she turned back to the ship. He watched her step on the ship, then the landing pad retracted back into the ship’s housing and the ship lifted into the sky with a deep rumble. With a blast of light from a quad set of ion engines, the ship blasted away into the busy Nar Shadda sky.

Nothing more could be gathered from this memory. Vhetin grimaced and imagined himself ripping his hand away from the wall, knowing that in the real world he was mirroring the action. He felt everything in the memory draining away and the familiar rushing sound and throbbing headache came flooding back.

He staggered back, ripping his hand away from the wall. He felt someone catch his arm and heard a familiar female voice say, “Whoa there, big guy. Careful, or you’ll... hey, what’s wrong?”

Venku’s voice was there too. “You’re finally awake. We thought you were in a coma or something.”

“Wh... what?” he choked out. His head was throbbing with an agonizing dull ache and his breath was coming in short, sharp gasps.

“You were standing by that wall for almost an hour,” Jay’s voice said. She hesitated, then added, “We were worried about you.”

He slowly regained his balance, his breath coming in pained gulps as his vision slowly began to return to him. He saw Venku and Jay standing in front of him, wearing identical expressions of concern and confusion.

“Vhetin,” Jay said, “what the hell happened to you?”

He shook his head and leaned against the wall, careful to place his hand as far as possible from the burn mark dug into the duracrete. “I’m fine. I was just… in there a little longer than usual. Probably longer than what’s safe. But I couldn’t… couldn’t leave early. Had to see…”

“Do you need a moment?”

He shook his head and repeated, “I’m fine. Just a headache.”

 “Were you able to find out what happened to Kestra?” Venku asked.

He nodded, rubbing his helmet forehead. He didn’t care that there was a thick barrier of _beskar_ separating his fingertips from his actual skin. He needed to do something to ease the pain lurking just behind his forehead. “She was attacked and kidnapped. Before you ask, Ge'tal, she’s alive. I saw it.”

Ge’tal backed down, but Jay frowned and said, “Who attacked her?”

“I don’t know. Some kind of assault trooper, but I’ve never seen armor like they used. It was almost like a mix of Mandalorian and Ubese designs. And they used lightsabers.”

“ _Lightsabers_?” Venku asked, nodding to the twin hilts on Vhetin’s belt. “As in illegal Jedi shiny-sticks?”

Vhetin nodded, but was unable to talk more, turning away and putting his helmeted head between his hands. Jay stared at him for a moment, then turned to the others and said, “Okay, can we give him some room? He’s obviously told us all he can.”

Ge'tal stared at Vhetin, then said, “What about Kestra? Will you two help us?”

Jay glanced at Vhetin again, who was leaning against the wall and breathing hard, “Yeah. I think that’s pretty obvious now.”

As Venku, Ge'tal, and Shuk’orok moved off to talk among themselves, Jay stepped back toward him and said, “Hey... you sure you’re okay?”

He nodded. “Like I said, it’s just a headache. I’m not supposed to spend that long in memories. It can be… dangerous.”

“Obviously,” she said, regarding him with concern. “Do you have any idea who these assault trooper guys were?”

He hesitated, unsure about whether he should give in to his suspicions so early in the hunt. He didn’t have much evidence, but what clues there were pointed to a convincing - and terrifying - conclusion.

“I have a theory,” he said, “but don’t tell the others until we have more information.”

“You got it. Who did this?”

He swallowed, then said, “Sith.”

She blinked, then glanced over her shoulder and stepped closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. “ _Sith?_ But-”

“I know how it sounds, but that’s the only thing I can think of. They used red lightsabers and shot lightning from their fingers. Who does that remind you of?”

She didn’t reply, only glanced at the others, then murmured, “So what’s the plan?”

“We can’t back out,” he sighed. “Not now. Those two have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. They need support.”

“Okay. I’ll tell Ge'tal and Shuk’orok that we’ll help them track down Kestra. Venku’s going to head back to Mandalore and see if he and Jaing can dig up any information on Kestra’s recent activities. Maybe there’s a clue there.”

He nodded as she walked away to the small group. He slowly stood again, his hands shaking. As she walked away, he chanced removing his helmet, turning his back to the others so he could take a deep breath of Nar Shadda air in privacy. He rubbed his forehead again, pressing the back of his hand against his mouth as a twist of nausea made his stomach squirm.

He noticed something dripping down the back of his hand and looked down to see a stream of blood staining his black glove. He frowned at his hand for a moment before pressing his fingertips against his nose. When he pulled away, they were wet with blood.

Nosebleed. He sighed and clenched his fist. That was dangerous, lingering in that memory so long. Much longer and he could have risked an aneurysm or internal hemorrhage.

His mind couldn’t stray from the images of those black-armored warriors. They way they had melted from the shadows, the way they had somehow crawled along the walls with their bare hands, the way they had lifted Kestra into the air and slammed her against the bulkheads of her own ship.

He stared at the blood on his hands, then shook his head and thought, _I have a really, really bad feeling about this._


	3. Kestra's Allies

**Later**

Ge'tal surveyed _Void_ 's interior with a skeptical gaze. He put his hands on his hips and said, "It's kind of cramped, and it reeks of Imperial design... but it looks okay."

Vhetin didn't look at him as he headed for the ship's armory. "I didn't have much input on the design. It was given to me as part of a black-ops mission and I was expected to use it. After that it grew on me."

Shuk'orok growled to which Ge'tal chuckled. Jay glanced at them and said, "What? What did he say?"

He shrugged and replied, "He thinks that all these little rooms and compartments remind him of the entrails of a Kashyyyki Pond-Leaper."

"Thanks," Vhetin replied sourly, still rubbing his helmeted forehead. "I've always wanted my personal transport to look like the guts of a tree frog."

"I think he meant it as a compliment."

Jay glanced over at the Mandalorian as they walked, studying him. He was interesting to say the least; Vhetin had told her that just as his own name translated as _white snow_ , Ge'tal's name translated to _red vengeance_. She had thought names couldn’t get more mysterious – or ominous – than Vhetin’s, but this man had proved her wrong.

At first glance he wasn't anything out of the ordinary; a handsome young man, maybe eighteen. His hair was messy and black and stood out in places as if an electrical shock had just gone through his system and his eyes were green and sharp like an avian raptor's. He was built like a muscular bolo-ball player and his armor was painted a deep red with a black jumpsuit underneath.

As she studied him, she noticed a spiky black tattoo curling up the sides of his neck. She was instantly reminded of the Mandalorian tribal tattoo she'd seen on Vhetin's body when he'd entered in a pit-fighting match on Telos a few weeks before. She wondered if Ge'tal had the same tattoo, or if they'd both visited the same tattoo artist.

Shuk'orok was a fairly model Wookiee, standing more than two meters tall and covered in shaggy black and gray fur. He had a large black belt wrapped around his hips that sported a blaster pistol that was almost half the length of Jay's arm. From what Jay had been told, he was Kestra's copilot and one of the beings she trusted more than anyone else. It looked to Jay like he would rip the arms of anyone who stood between him and his missing friend.

Together, the two made a fearsome pair; Kestra was blessed with good friends. And as Jay considered it, she realized that Vhetin was displaying the same signs of worry and concern they felt for their captain. He knew the missing huntress, whether he was going to tell Jay about it or not.

The four hunters squeezed into the ship's round central room, which was larger than most other rooms stored inside. There was a small, circular table set up in the center and a set of holo-monitors were set up around the area.

"So what are we up to now?" Jay asked, taking a seat on the bench that surrounded the table. "You're not going to give the suicidal psychometry another try, are you?"

He shook his head, grabbing a handheld scanner from a hook on the wall. "Not a chance in hell. I feel like I have the mother of all hang-overs already."

"Did you manage to hear where they took Kestra?" Ge'tal asked.

"No. But I managed to get a name: Lord Draco."

"Dramatic," Jay said, relaxing against the table with a sigh. "But a name only doesn't really narrow the list down."

"But," Vhetin said, checking the calibration of the scanner, "Kestra said that whatever this creature was, he'd been following her for three days. And she'd just landed here on Nar Shadda the day before."

"So?" Ge'tal said.

"So..." Vhetin said, "where was the last time you stopped for fuel?"

Ge'tal frowned, running a hand through his messy black hair. "Uh... Coruscant. A week ago. We were just heading out."

"That would be two days before Kestra disappeared. Any idea where you refueled?"

"I... I don't remember. Somewhere in the Bostani Gang's sector. What does it matter?"

Vhetin twisted a knob on the side of the handheld scanner and the device emitted a high-pitched beep that made Jay's ears ring for a moment. "If I can pick up fuel traces from when your ship set down, I can track the fuel supply back to where you guys refueled."

Shuk'orok howled, shaking his head. Jay glanced at him and asked, "What did he say?"

"He asked what that would accomplish," Ge'tal translated.

Vhetin turned and began walking back the way he'd come, back outside. "Kestra said that the armored being had been following her for three days. It's a good bet he passed through the fueling station shortly after you did."

"And if he did," Ge'tal said, nodding as he followed, "the station's security cams would have picked him up."

"It's our best bet," Vhetin said, striding down the landing pad and heading out into the docking bay once more. He pulled the scanner's trigger and a steady beeping came from the device.

"This shouldn't take long," he said, slowly walking around the perimeter of the bay. The scanner began to beep slower, and he headed the other way. It slowly began to beep faster and faster, and blue lights lit up on its readout. As the scanner began to let out a long, constant buzz, Vhetin knelt and passed the device over the ground.

Jay walked over and knelt next to him. "What did you find?"

"Traces of fuel burn from when _Kar'ta Tor_ set down," he explained. "If I'm lucky, the scanner will recognize which brand of fuel it is, then I can track it to the fuel station where Kestra stopped."

"How can you do that?"

"Ge'tal said that they stopped in the Bostani Gang's sector," Vhetin explained. "The Bostani are notorious for raiding Imperial fuel convoys. They’re the biggest threat to the Imperial fuel industry in the entire Triple Zero sector. As a result, the Senate passed a law a few years back that ordered all refueling stations in the sector to add a unique tracer chemical to their deposits. They figured that if Imp law enforcement ever busted one of the Bostani gangs, they'd be able to identify all the stations they'd stolen from."

"I get it," Jay said, nodding to the scanner. "So that thing scans for any remnants of the tracer chem, then tells you where it came from."

"Exactly. And it should be a pretty narrow list, considering that we already know they refueled on Coruscant."

The scanner's lights suddenly turned red and writing flashed across the small readout. Vhetin stood and stared at the display. He let out a sigh and shook his head. “Well great.”

"What is it?" Ge'tal said as he and Shuk'orok stepped closer.

The black-armored Mando lowered the scanner with a sigh, handing it to Jay before turning away and silently stalking back to his ship.

Jay quickly read the feedback report. It showed that there were trace remnants of a fuel type called Sehryon-5, which was sold out of a refueling outpost in the Industrial District of Coruscant. The outpost itself was owned by a company called Enviro-Tech, a subsidiary of the larger company...

"Oh no," Jay sighed.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Ge'tal snapped. He folded his arms across his chest and shifted his weight impatiently. Shuk'orok only growled, staring at Jay with his dark eyes.

Jay glanced at the two and said, "The fuel you bought ultimately belongs to a company called the Reenactment Cooperative."

"Great," Ge'tal said. "So we know who to ask for permission to look at their security footage."

"It's not that simple," Jay said. "The Reenactment Cooperative is little more than an extremely large, extremely complex front business."

Shuk'orok grumbled and Ge'tal frowned and said, "For what?"

"A very dangerous criminal organization," Jay sighed, "called Bloody Dawn."

~~~~~~~~

**Imperial Mining Outpost 32-B, Mustafar**

The dark, dank room was completely silent save for the sporadic pops and snaps of Kestra’s holding cage and the labored, unhealthy-sounding breathing coming from the armored colossus standing guard at the door. The thing’s back was turned to her, which was a slight blessing. Kestra thought that if she saw the creature’s nightmarish faceplate one more time, she might just be forced to throw up from revulsion.

She was hanging in mid-air in the middle of the force-cage, held with her hands above her head by crackling beams of energy that sent the hairs on the back of her neck tingling. Blue lightning snapped and popped from the fixtures set into the floor and ceiling that maintained her formless prison.

She sagged against her invisible bonds, her eyelids drooping from exhaustion. How long had she been trapped here? Two days? Three? Four, maybe? The hours and days had begun to blend together. Her sense of time had vanished, along with any hope of rescue. After all, no one knew where she was, where she’d been when she’d disappeared... even her crewmembers, Ge’tal and Shuk’orok, had been away for a night off when she’d been abducted. There was no way anyone would be able to find her.

What was she going to do? Hang here till she died? Give in to the demands of her nightmarish, sadistic captors?  She’d rather die fighting for a way to escape.

She looked up at the hulking mass of razor-edged armor plates that stood guard at the door. Maybe there was a way to turn her imprisonment to her advantage. Yes, she may be locked in here with that... _thing_ , but he was also locked in with _her_. She may as well take advantage of that fact; it was one of the few things working in her favor.

She licked her parched lips, then yelled, “Hey! You there! _Osik_ head!”

The being twitched, as if stung by an irritating insect, then slowly turned to face her. He let out an inhuman snarl and clenched a fistful of razor blades.

She mustered up all the courage she could manage and called, “Nice to see you know your own name you dumb son of a bitch. Think you’ve got enough mass in that micron-sized brain of yours to tell me what day it is?”

The creature stared at her through the thin T-slit visor of his helmet, then twitched his head slightly and turned away again.

 _Great_ , Kestra thought. _That went well. Now what?_

He obviously wasn’t going to respond to simple insults. She needed to make him mad. _Really_ mad.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued after a moment, “you’re certainly fearsome-looking. But you don’t strike me as the kind who would intentionally hurt someone.”

_Oh yeah, like that_ _’s going to work. He looks like he would rip the head off a rancor for kicks._

“I guess that’s why they put you on guard duty,” she said. “You know, play the whole ‘good interrogator, bad interrogator’ scenario. My only question is when is the bad interrogator going to come in? You haven’t said a single word the whole time.”

No response.

“Then again,” she said, staring at the back of the being’s head, “it wouldn’t surprise me if they... _replaced_ you before too long.”

That got his attention; his helmet raised slightly and his hands clenched into fists again.

“Yeah,” Kestra said, pressing her advantage. “You know what I mean. How useful is a disciple who can’t even intimidate a fifteen-year-old girl?”

He half-turned back to her and she played her final card.

“Tell me,” she said, adopting a mildly casual tone, “how long do you think it would take a big guy like you to disintegrate if your corpse was tossed in the lava outside? Two minutes? Five?”

The being let out a snarl and stepped toward her, raising a blade-studded hand to strike at her. Kestra tensed, waiting for the blow to fall, when-

“ _Stop._ ”

Both Kestra and her guard froze, turning their gazes toward the source of the new voice. With a raspy, dirty-sounding breath of his own, the black-clad Sith Lord she had spoken to before stepped from the shadows. He gestured with a bladed hand and the armored guard took a reluctant step back.

 _Be careful_ , Kestra thought to herself. _This guy is obviously high up on the food chain. He may even be the boss_.

He was instantly recognizable because of his suit’s differences from the other armored beings she’d seen come and go. This new armored nightmare was shorter than her giant of a guard, athletically built with form-fitting armor plates and a ribbed life support suit that looked similar to the armor of the infamous Sith Lord Darth Vader. The being’s razor-bladed hands were covered by leathery black gloves and a shin-length black combat skirt hung from his belt.

His lurid helmet was identical to the others, however; that same T-bar visor coupled with the Ubese-looking vocoder. Two thin red stripes ran up the helmet’s forehead, contrasted with the yellow or burnt orange markings of the other beings she’d seen.

The Sith Lord stepped into the flickering blue light cast by her holding cell and cocked his helmeted head.

“I must apologize for my lieutenant’s behavior,” he said, his rasping, grating voice erasing any sincerity of remorse from his speech. “He is young, and does not yet understand how to control his anger.”

Kestra said nothing, just narrowed her eyes at him. He stared back at her, then said, “You don’t remember me? Then perhaps a re-introduction is in order.”

He placed a razor-fingered hand against his armored chest and bowed his head slightly, rasping, “I am Darth Draco, Dark Lord of the Sith and leader of the Sith Stalkers. I am honored to announce that I am your new master.”

“The honor is all yours,” Kestra said, letting her head fall against her chest in exhaustion. With this Darth Draco keeping an eye on her, there was no way she could escape now.

Draco stepped forward, cupping her face in his razor-bladed hand and squeezing just hard enough to make the blades dig painfully into her skin.

“Listen to me carefully,” he said. “You and I share a common goal.”

“Do we?”

“Indeed. I know that the Empire killed your family, slaughtered them in cold blood. Now you scour the galaxy, angry and alone, seeking revenge for the injustices committed that ruined your life.”

She recoiled from his touch. Was this more information that he had ripped from her unconscious mind? How could he know that?

He gestured to himself again. “I myself have lost loved ones to the cruelties of the Emperor. My own master was cornered by Imperial Commandos and executed as a Jedi. Of course, I was the one who tipped off the Commandos as to his location, but...”

He hesitated and Kestra imagined him grinning behind his nightmarish helmet.

“...that is a different story entirely,” he finished with a shrug that made his armor plates creak.

“What do you want with me?” she demanded. “What did I ever do to you?”

Draco slowly shrugged again as he began to pace back and forth in front of her. “You personally? Nothing. Your people? Nothing.”

He paused, his back to her. She winced as his labored breathing echoed in the room.

“Your Empire?” he said slowly. “Your ‘Emperor’? They are the ones who will pay for their crimes.”

“The Emperor?” Kestra echoed, frowning. Palpatine had many enemies, but she had never met anyone who loathed him with such obvious fanatical dedication. “What did he do to you?”

“He is a pompous idealist who has corrupted and diluted the teachings of the Dark Side and the power of the Sith,” Draco spat, his back still to her. “He has warped the teachings of our masters to suit his own goals. He is a traitor, trained by generations of traitors before him.”

“How?”

“The Rule of Two that he and his dog, Vader, follow to this day is the greatest insult to the Sith Empire since the days of the Old Republic.”

“Even if the Emperor is a Sith Lord,” Kestra said skeptically, “that would only mean he’s brought the galaxy under their control. Isn’t that a good thing for you?”

“ _Silence_!” the armored Sith snapped. He slowly turned back to her, growling, “You know not of what you speak.”

“Then tell me,” she said, pulling ineffectively against her restraints. “I want to know.”

It wasn’t a lie; as much as she wanted to escape, this Darth Draco’s hatred of the Empire intrigued her. What would bring a Sith, who as a group reveled in the enslavement and exploitation of those under their control, to fight against a government that - if he was telling the truth - was under the control of one of his own?

Draco shook his helmeted head and said, “Then let us take a step into the past, you and I.”

He turned to her and began pacing again. “Think back to your earliest studies in galactic history. What was last recorded conflict between the Sith and the Jedi?”

“Easy,” Kestra replied, following him by turning her head slightly. It was one of the few movements she could accomplish while hanging in mid-air. “The Battle of Ruusan during the Great Sith War.”

“Exactly,” he rasped, nodding. “The largest single conflict between my brothers and the hated Jedi, in which Jedi Master Hoth led his forces against the Sith Lord Kaan and his army, the Brotherhood of Darkness.”

He cocked his head and stared at her, asking, “What do you know of this battle?”

“Not much,” Kestra slowly admitted, flexing her sore hands in their restraints. She narrowed her eyes as she continued, cautious of any tricks the Sith Lord might have up his sleeve. “Lord Hoth beat the opposing side back and the Sith all committed suicide rather than be arrested.”

“The so-called _thought bomb_ ,” Draco said, nodding as he began pacing again. “An abomination of the Force if there ever was one. In a single moment, all life on the planet Ruusan was eliminated by its power. Both the Jedi and Sith Orders were severely weakened.”

He turned to her. “ _Weakened_ ,” he repeated. “Not destroyed.”

“What do you mean?”

“A Sith Lord remained,” Draco explained. “Darth Bane, who, thinking the Sith utterly ruined, committed the Sith Order to secrecy. He crafted what is known as the Rule of Two, dictating that from that moment on there should be only two Sith Lords at a time: a master, and an apprentice.”

“One to wield power, the other to crave it,” came the rumbling voice of Kestra’s hulking guard. He spoke the words slowly, his voice dripping with venom. It was the first time Kestra had heard him speak.

“Indeed,” Draco said, nodding to him. Turning back to his prisoner, he continued, “But unbeknownst to Bane, another Sith Lord emerged from the ruins of Ruusan. This was the Sith Lord known as Darth Xexoro.”

“The Resurrector,” murmured the guard.

Draco stared deeply into Kestra’s eyes and rasped, “Instead of fleeing like a whipped gizka as Bane did, Xexero stayed on Ruusan to search for survivors. Evading Republic and Jedi patrols, he found other Sith Lords who, fleeing from the mass-suicide led by Lord Kaan, had escaped relatively unharmed from the thought bomb’s detonation. These seven Sith Lords escaped Ruusan, seeking the perfect place to rebuild the Sith."

Draco's voice had taken on a reverent tone, making Kestra think his explanation was in truth a local legend.

"These seven lords wandered for two years, evading pirates, bounty hunters, and Jedi as they searched for a new home. Traveling beyond the outer rim, they found it: the planet Xexeron, named after the Sith Lord who led our people on their exodus from Ruusan.

"These founding lords rebuilt our order on Xexeron," Draco said, "surviving for generations, thriving in secret."

"Okay," Kestra said, "so where do you come in to all this?"

Draco chuckled and flexed his bladed fingers. "One of the founding lords was named Darth Tacitus. He was one of the greatest Stalkers in galactic history, and it was he who kept our ways alive, passing the Stalker teachings from student to student."

He turned to her and finished, "Until modern times. Until _me_."

He stepped closer, until his contoured faceplate almost touched her nose. His rasping, coughing breath was deafening in her ears, and she unsuccessfully tried to lean away from him.

"I have been charged to weed out the traitors to our pure Sith way," he snarled. "And I will destroy the Emperor and his pawn, _Darth_ Vader."

"And... where do I figure in to all of this?" Kestra asked hesitantly, feeling fear creep into her mind again.

Draco leaned back and chuckled. "You will be my tyro, my apprentice. You will stand by my side as I crush the Emperor's skull beneath my bootheel."

"But why _me_?"

He stared at her, then said, "I sense you are very powerful, in physical and mental terms. With discipline, with training, you have... hmm, great potential."

"To do what? Murder without cause? Devote myself to an order whose principles go against everything I was taught as a child?"

He stared at her, then let out a full laugh. It was a rasping, grating sound that made Kestra grimace and want to cover her ears.

"I can see that you will take some... persuasion to turn," he said. "I was once rebellious as you were. But you will soon learn to embrace the darkness. You will soon learn to embrace the truth."

He turned away, heading back to the door. As he went, he gestured to the hulking Stalker standing guard and murmured, "You may begin the conversion."

The being nodded and stepped toward Kestra. Purple-white lightning sparked and popped around his bladed fingers. He leveled his hands at Kestra and the lightning arced through the air toward her.

Her screams echoed through the facility before being drowned out by thunderous eruptions of white-hot magma.


	4. Ruminations

**Imperial Mining Outpost 32-B, Mustafar**

Draco surveyed the molten surface of Mustafar from an observation platform on the roof off the mining outpost. His razor-blade hands were hooked behind his back and his helmeted head slowly turned back and forth as he looked across the chaotic, burning landscape.

The outpost was a boxy structure anchored to the living rock of the cliff wall some hundred or so feet above a molten river of white-hot magma. Several long magma-hauling platforms stretched over the river below, protected from the destructive heat of the lava by glowing blue energy shields.

As for the surrounding landscape, it was very similar to the surface of his home planet Xexeron. A volcanic mountain range stretched across the horizon, spewing lava and huge pillars of smoke so high that they blotted out the light from the planet’s fiery orange sun. A gigantic river of molten magma slogged its way through the scorched terrain far below the outpost, which was built into the side of a jutting cliff. A colony of local Mustafarians had made their home a half-mile further along the river, but they were far enough away to be of little concern.

In all, the atmosphere was chaotic, unsightly, and dangerous. Draco rather liked it.

But it wasn’t the sight of the planet that drew his attention. He closed his eyes, visualizing dark tendrils of smoke stretching out from his body as he reached out with the Dark Side.

Yes... right there, lurking behind the violence of the planet, flowing through every element of the area, coursing through the rock and metal and magma like a dark cloud: a colossal disturbance in the Force. As if at this spot, not long ago, the very fibers that held the galaxy together had been twisted, stretched, and frayed until...

He slowly opened his eyes, which were once more tinged with yellow and red as the Dark Side surged through him. Here, on the banks of the molten river, a great battle between the forces of Light and Dark had taken place. Two brothers turned mortal enemies. One allied with the surrealistic glow of the Light Side, the other cloaked and manipulated by the power of the Dark Side.

As the Sith Lord reached deeper, probed further, he began to piece together the details: at first, the two combatants had been evenly matched, step-for-step, blow-for-blow. As the battle continued, however, the tide began to shift toward the follower of the Dark Side and the disciple of the Light had been pushed into the defensive.

Then, in a stunning turn of events, the balance of power suddenly shifted toward the Light Side. Draco felt the warm feeling of the Light’s victory pass through him, making a wave of nausea settle into the pit of his stomach.

Yes, the Light had won this battle. But like all triumphs of good, it was short-lived. For the Dark Side practitioner had survived, his pain and humiliation fueling his will to survive. And with the retreat and disappearance of the Light disciple, the Dark had grown and spread until it reigned supreme.

Yes, the Light had won this battle, but the Dark had won the war.

“My Lord?” came a voice behind him. “I must speak to you.”

He opened his eyes again and turned to the speaker. Seeing a familiar female figure with dark orange stripes over the forehead of her helmet, he gestured with a hand and said, “Tillipi. Speak.”

She bowed her head and stepped forward, standing at his shoulder. She stood in silence for a moment, surveying the seared Mustafarian landscape as well before saying, “My lord, you charged me to inform you if I sensed any intruders returning to the site where we took the girl.”

The Sith Lord turned to the woman, cocking his head. “Someone returned?”

She hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

He was silent for a time, staring at her through the faceplate of his helmet. He turned away, then murmured, “That is... unexpected.”

“I came to you as soon as I found out,” Tillipi said. “The Force Surveillance I used on the docking bay was powerful enough to warn me if any beings intruded.”

“And what did you find?”

“I... I do not know,” she replied. “This being... he was able to observe the imprints we left behind, to look into the past to see exactly what transpired in that docking bay.”

His gaze was instantly upon her again, his interest caught. “Psychometry? Was this being Force-sensitive?”

Tillipi shook her head. “Not that I could tell.”

Draco sighed. “A pity. If the girl’s capture would have led other potentials to our doorstep, she would have proven her value a hundred times over.”

“But this man,” Tillipi pressed, “is Mandalorian. As she is.”

“Is he now? Interesting.”

“He knows her. And I sensed that he would stop at nothing to find her.”

Draco narrowed his eyes and let out a long breath. "That is disappointing. But even if he can utilize psychometry, he is of little concern. If he is merely a bounty hunter, he will fall like the weakling he is."

Tillipi bowed and backed away cautiously before turning and striding away.

Draco stared out at the Mustafarian landscape for a moment more. Then he called, “ _Disciples_.”

At his command, six Sith Stalkers seemed to melt out of thin air, stepping up behind him and bowing their helmeted heads. In truth, they had been standing there the whole time, guarding him, and had utilized a Force Cloaking technique to make them invisible to the naked eye. It was one of the specialized techniques drilled into the Stalker lifestyle. Since their primary duty was to be either unstoppable assassins or unseen bodyguards, the ability proved most useful.

“What is thy bidding, my master?” one of the Stalkers murmured with a deep voice.

Draco didn’t move his gaze from the view of the Mustafarian landscape as he said, “Xenophon. You heard Tillipi’s report?”

“We did, my lord,” the same Stalker boomed.

“Then find this man,” Draco said, “track him down, find out what he knows. If he is a bumbling idiot, leave him to his wanderings. If he is a threat...”

He paused, then said, “Eliminate him.”

As one, they bowed, then turned and vanished into the muggy air once more.

Draco was certain that his disciples would find this man and that they would not fail to destroy him. If they did, then he was a slight threat to begin with. Still, it would be best to make sure there were no loose ends left hanging. He could not permit even the slightest risk to his mission; it was too important.

Then he turned away as well and marched toward the room they had converted into a holding cell.

It was high time he had a talk with his young apprentice.

~~~~~~~~

**Freelance Transport** **_Void_ ** **, exact coordinates unknown, hyperspace tunnel en route to Imperial City**

“Motion One,” Ge’tal said, raising a heavily padded fist. Jay lashed out with a fist, hitting the pad in the middle, following up with a one-two-three punch to his padded chest plate.

“Good,” the red-armored Mando said, taking a step back. “But you need to attack faster and focus less on how hard you punch. Teräs Käsi focuses on speed _and_ strength in equal measure. An imbalance in either will just make you look sloppy.”

Jay nodded, brushing a strand of sweaty hair out of her eyes as Ge’tal snapped, “Number ten!” and she followed up with the subsequent attack.

Vhetin watched the two spar from his seat on an overturned crate along the wall of _Void_ ’s circular central room. His hands were clenched into loose fists, and he tried to concentrate on the fight, to take his mind off the fact that one of his few friends had been kidnapped. That she might be dead already.

The room had been turned into a makeshift sparring ring by simply retracting the central table into the floor, leaving a flat, open space that was perfect for use as a fighting ring. Ge’tal and Jay were currently drilling level one Teräs Käsi moves, helping her to strengthen her melee combat skills. Vhetin’s partner was moving steadily along in her training, but her hand-to-hand fighting still left much to be desired.

Normally, he would be the one leading Jay’s Teräs Käsi lesson. But as they’d taken off, Ge’tal had revealed that he had a padded sparring suit designed specifically for hand-to-hand training. The suit, cut to fit Ge’tal’s muscular build, was too big for Vhetin’s lankier frame, so he’d handed the reins over to the other Mando.

Jay grunted as she unleashed a swift flurry of attacks that bounced off Ge’tal’s suit. The Mando blocked some of the attacks, but let most of them penetrate his defenses, letting Jay get a feel for how hard she should be trying to attack him.

“Good,” Ge’tal said as they retreated to the starting position again. “You’re going faster, but keep an eye on your footwork. You don’t want to trip in the middle of a fistfight.”

Half-unconsciously, Vhetin reached into one of his belt pouches. After fumbling around for a moment, he pulled out a large gold coin, turning it over and over between his fingers absently.

Tearing his gaze away from the fight, he looked down at the coin, passing it through his fingers, flipping it over and over. One side was embossed with the royal flag of a warrior culture known as the Faberians, of which Kestra was a member. The other side was printed with raised Faberian runes, and Vhetin brushed his gloved fingertips over them as his mind wandered back to his own Teräs Käsi teacher.

Those had been painful days; his teacher had been an ice-cold Faberian woman known as Ranek. She had been asked to teach him in the ways of Teräs Käsi, since she was well known as one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in Mandalore’s sector of the galaxy.

She may have been the best fighter, but she was severely lacking in skills of compassion. She was cold and distant with everyone, and had a reputation for ruthlessness. Vhetin couldn’t even begin to count the times he’d suffered injury at her hands.

The memory of one such occurrence flashed into his mind. He could see it as clearly as if he’d simply used psychometry on the coin in his hands to re-read the memory.

_“Is that it?” Ranek had calmly asked, looming over him with her durasteel fighting staff held loosely in her hands. “Are you giving up?_

_He had been lying on the ground, only fourteen years old, wearing nothing but a loose pair of combat pants to minimize his weight and maximize his speed in the ring. He was bleeding from a gash on his forehead and clutching at his arm._

_He_ _’d looked up at her with streaming eyes and gasped, “I... I can’t. My arm. I-I think my shoulder is dislocated.”_

_“That’s no excuse,” she had said coldly, her black robe billowing out around her in the cold autumn wind. Her black hair was whipped about by the breeze, making her pale face look all the more fearsome. “Get up and fight.”_

_“I... I can’t,” he moaned._

_“Then you’re weak,” she’d replied with a calm shrug. “I’ve seen children who could put up a better fight than you.”_

_With a groan, he_ _’d pushed himself onto his hands and knees, pain shooting through his throbbing arm strong enough to make his knees shake. But before he could rise fully, she lashed out with the staff, whipping it across his face while simultaneously planting her foot against his shoulder and shoving him away._

_His shoulder popped back into its socket with a wet squelching pop and he yelled in pain, writhing on the ground. The pain... the pain was all-consuming, raging through every nerve in his body. His entire arm was numb and trembling uncontrollably. Blood dripped into his eyes, but he barely had the strength to blink it away. He just lay on the ground, facing the sky, gasping for breath as he clutched at his arm._

_Ranek stepped forward, tossing aside her staff. She knelt next to him and grabbed him by the throat, hoisting him into the air until they were face-to-face. She regarded him with contempt before whispering,_ _“If you can’t learn to deal with your pain, you have no future as a bounty hunter. Are you going to go crying home like a whipped strill every time someone manages to hit you?”_

_“You didn’t just hit me!” he shouted as she let him drop to the ground. He staggered to his feet, leaning heavily against the fence of the sparring ring behind Rame’s farm. “You dislocated my karking_ shoulder _!_ _”_

_“A bruised arm, a dislocated arm,” Ranek said scornfully, “they’re the same. The pain only affects you if you let it.”_

_“But-”_

_Before he could say more, she spun and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, hitting him in the side of the head with her boot. He went crashing to the ground again, ears ringing._

_“Pathetic,” she said, shaking her head and putting her foot on his chest. “You are completely useless, aren‘t you?”_

_“This isn’t training!” he’d objected, holding his head. “You’re just using it as an excuse to beat me up!”_

_Another woman had entered the ring at that moment, stepping up to Ranek_ _’s shoulder and whispering in her ear. Ranek had listened intently, then looked at Vhetin and snarled, “This session is over. Come back to me when you can at least present a challenge.”_

_She_ _’d kicked him hard in the face again before calmly turning away and heading for the edge of the ring. He’d staggered to his feet, fury racing through his heart. He’d limped toward her back, then jumped at her with a shout of rage. His mind was a swirling cloud of rage; he would beat her now if he had to bash her head against the duracrete ground until her skull cracked open._

_But she barely flinched; she just whirled and slammed her open palm across his face. The stinging blow disoriented him, throwing him off balance. She moved fast; almost too fast to see. In a single fluid motion, she grabbed him by the throat and drove her fist into his solar plexus, knocking the breath out of him, then hooked her foot around his ankles and tripped him. He slammed hard into the ground again and she grabbed his wrist as she put her boot against his shoulder and wrenched it to the side. It dislocated again with a loud_ pop _and he screamed in pain._

_She let him fall to the ground, shaking her head and repeating,_ _“Pathetic.” Then she turned and ducked out of the combat ring, leaving him to roll on the ground screaming as pain ripped through his shoulder._

Those days had been torturous, and he used to beg Rame not to send him out to spar with Ranek. The older Mando wasn’t any happier about the woman’s cruel teaching methods than Vhetin was, but there was no other choice. She was the best teacher on Mandalore, and if he backed out now, her accusations that he was weak and pathetic would be true.

So he’d fought with her and been beaten time and again, every day for a year and a half. He'd been on the verge of breaking down physically and mentally when he'd met Kestra.

One day, seemingly out of the blue, Ranek had ordered him to begin instructing a ten-year-old Kestra in the ways of Teräs Käsi combat. He'd been confused at first, and more than a little irritated at having to deal with a little girl as well as Ranek. But as he got to know her better, Kestra became his defense against his ice-cold teacher.

Kestra was mistreated and beaten just as badly as he was, but together they were able to stand against Ranek. They became close friends, at first united by the ruthlessness of their teacher and soon after becoming friends because they enjoyed each other's company.

After that their sparring matches weren't completely one-sided. One day, toward the end of his training, Vhetin formulated a plan to get back at Ranek for all the pain she’d caused him. He’d observed her comings and goings throughout Keldabe for weeks, noting every stop, every being who happened to give her a friendly nod. He memorized her entire daily routine, waiting for the perfect time to strike. His hatred fueled his studies, and one summer day, he’d sprung his trap in an alley outside the _Oyu_ _’baat_.

Now a proficient practitioner of complex Level 3 Teräs Käsi movements, he had used her own teachings and his better-than-average physical abilities to bring her down. She’d spent two weeks in a medcenter after he finished with her.

He’d broken both her legs, cracked four of her ribs and - just as a special touch, like an artist’s signature on a painting - dislocated her shoulder.

He’d taken great pains to make sure he didn’t reveal his identity but, of course, she knew. When he’d been forced to visit her in the medcenter, she’d finally looked at him with respect. She had casts over three-quarters of her body, but she nodded to him as he entered and simply congratulated him for a job well done.

 _"Everyone keeps saying you're a psychopath,"_ she said. " _You finally proved it._ "

He didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, so he remained silent. As he’d stepped out of the medcenter room a few minutes later, Kestra had been waiting for him.

_“She’s just going to hurt you even more now,” she’d pointed out, her arms folded worriedly across her chest. “You almost crippled her.”_

_“I was trying to kill her_ , _” he’d replied point-blank. “She deserved it.”_

 _She had looked through the room_ _’s window, at the once-terrifying Ranek looking like a Korriban mummy all wrapped up in her bandages. “I think so too, the way she beat you. But you’re going to get in trouble. People like her don’t care about their own injuries. And now she isn’t going to stop until_ you’re _dead._ _”_

 _He_ _’d shaken his head. “Don’t worry. I’m skilled enough to defend myself now. In the end, I think that’s what she wanted_.”

From then on, Ranek had been hard-pressed to continue her merciless beatings. Vhetin had utilized his unique blend of Teräs Käsi and his semi-superhuman abilities to counter her own quick reflexes and strength. And he had studied her fighting form, remembering every misstep and every weakness before turning the information over to Kestra. With the extra information, Kestra was able to avoid such serious injury at Ranek's hands as well.

When Kestra had finished her training as well at thirteen, the two had parted ways. They talked to each other over comms every once in a while, but had never met face-to-face since the day she left Mandalore.

The girl had looked up to Vhetin like an older brother, someone who would protect her from those who wished to harm her. And now she'd been kidnapped and he hadn't been there to help her.

He shook his head, staring at the coin in his hands. To this day he didn’t know why he kept it; Ranek had given it to him when she’d openly admitted there was no more she could teach him.

Maybe he kept it to remind him of his victory against the ruthless woman. Maybe he'd kept it because it reminded him of Kestra, his _vod'ika_. Or maybe he'd kept it to remember what it took to succeed in a galaxy that was as cold and ruthless as his former mentor.

He slowly closed his fist around the coin, breathing hard as he felt anger flare up in his heart. He stood and silently left the room, stepping into the hall outside the circular room.  He leaned against the wall, his fist clenched around the coin so hard it shook.

These Sith had taken one of his closest friends. They had probably tortured and killed her for no reason. And in allowing these armored nightmares to take her, he'd failed. Again.

Ranek's voice wafted into his mind, calmly stating, " _You're worthless_. _Pathetic_. _It_ _’s a miracle that anyone places any faith in you at all._ "

But that wasn’t true, not any more. He'd find Kestra, if he had to spend the rest of his life tracking her down. He’d free her if it cost him his own life to do so. And when he found these Sith, he'd kill them. Slowly.

 _Hold on, Kestra_ , he thought, shaking his head. _I'm coming for you. I won_ _’t let Ranek be right. I won’t fail again._

He couldn't be sure, but he could almost imagine that she heard him.


	5. An Old Frenemy

Jay and Ge’tal momentarily put their sparring match on hold when Vhetin stormed out of the room. Jay stepped back and craned her neck, looking after her partner.

“What’s up with him?” Ge’tal asked, staring after the black-armored Mandalorian.

She shrugged. “Who knows? He’s not exactly the most social guy when it comes to his feelings. He’s probably just worried about Kestra.”

“Do they know each other?” he asked, staring after the bounty hunter as well. “I’ve heard her mention his name a few times, but apart from that...”

“I was actually hoping you’d be able to tell me,” Jay said truthfully. “He doesn’t really talk to me much outside the job.”

“I’ll bet that gets annoying.”

She laughed. “You have no idea.”

He pushed a button on the wall and the central table rose out of its hatch in the floor again. Once it had locked into place, he settled himself onto the bench with a sigh. Jay sat as well, shaking hair out of her face.

“So,” he said as he pulled the padding suit off from over his normal armor, “how did someone as weird as Vhetin end up with a beauty like you?”

Jay blushed and said, “Come on. Be serious.”

“I am serious,” he said, pulling his helmet off and setting it on the table. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me I’m the first one to say that you’re a very beautiful woman.”

She looked away and said, “No, you’re not. But in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a rescue mission. I don’t think now is the time.”

“Look around,” he said, leaning back against the table. “We’re in hyperspace and won’t reach Corrie for an hour at least.”

“That’s not the point.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning. “You seem very tense. You have something against a little friendly banter?”

“And you’re not?” she said, turning back to him. “Your captain has been kidnapped.”

He shrugged. “Kestra’s tough. She’s been through tougher situations than this. I have faith in her.”

She sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’m sorry. I think we’d all do well to calm down; we all seem to be tense.”

“I can think of a few ways for you and me to take our minds off of all this.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re actually suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I think I’m going to have to leave.”

“It depends on what you think I’m suggesting,” he said with a grin.

Jay sighed again and stood, striding past him and heading down the hall where Vhetin had disappeared earlier.

“Okay,” he called after her, “I’ll talk to you later I guess.”

She didn’t reply, pointedly not turning back to him. She couldn't say that she wasn't surprised at his behavior. During her time serving in the Navy, she'd been dropped into more sticky situations than she cared to count. She'd quickly learned that people dealt with the stress of these situations in different ways. Some people latched on to others for help, some people, like Vhetin, drew into themselves and refused the help of others. And some people, like Ge'tal, had only one thing on their minds.

"So," came Vhetin's quiet voice from the shadows. He was leaning against the wall and staring at her from the darkness. "You met Ge'tal."

She sighed and shrugged. "He seems nice enough, but..."

"Yeah," he said, staring at her through the expressionless visor of his faceplate. " _But_.”

"You seem to know a lot about him."

"I only know what Kestra has told me. And I have my ways of gathering information on potential competitors."

"So what? I should stay away from him?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Do whatever you feel is right. But I wouldn't trust a single word that comes out of his mouth."

"He seems trustworthy enough."

"Oh he's trustworthy," Vhetin said. "He's a proud _Mando'ad_. But with women, he tends to watch more than just your back. He's left a steady trail of broken hearts throughout the galaxy from Nar Shadda to Tatooine."

He shrugged again. "I'm not telling you to do one thing or another. Like I said, he's a trustworthy _Mando'ad_ and a first-rate bounty hunter. But he's a charmer, and you just need to keep your wits about you so you won’t do something you'll regret."

"Hey," Jay said with a grin. "I can take care of myself, Stripes. I'm more than just a pretty face, you know."

He sighed and looked at the floor. "Yeah... I know."

"Hey," she said, frowning suddenly. "What's wrong? You seem more tense than usual."

He shook his helmeted head. "It's just a little too much on my plate right now. I had another fight with Brianna yesterday so she's not talking to me again. One of my contacts on Lomarios was arrested the other day and he's asking me to get him out of it. And now on top of all of _that_ , Kestra's been kidnapped..."

He looked up at her and forced a nonchalant tone. It was pretty convincing, but Jay could hear the weariness behind his voice.

"I'm just tired," he said. "But I'll be fine once we manage to get Kestra back."

"You care for her." It wasn't a question.

He let out a quiet chuckle. "Care for her? Of course I do. I helped train her; she's close enough to be family. She's like a little sister."

"And now she's been taken hostage," she said, nodding sympathetically. "But you know, you can't blame yourself for that. You weren't even there."

"Of course I can blame myself," he said. "For not being there when she needed my help."

"You're not all-powerful, Vhetin," she pointed out. "You can't be everywhere at once."

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "I'll just have to try and make up for it by rescuing her before those _darjetii_ bastards seriously injure her."

She smiled at him and said, "You'll get her back. You managed to take down Oppo Tor and he was a lot tougher than these Sith guys are."

He chuckled quietly then pushed off the wall, striding back toward the cockpit. "Come on," he said as he stepped past her. "We should be arriving soon."

“So what are we going to do when we get to Coruscant?” Jay asked, following behind him. “Sekha is dangerous; she almost got us killed the last time we tried to get information from her.”

“You think I don’t remember almost freezing to death out on Rhen Var?” Vhetin said. “I know Sekha is dangerous. But would you rather break in to the refueling station and risk getting caught? At least now we’re coming to her for help instead of being brought before her as intruders.”

Jay found it hard to argue with his logic. Sekha may be dangerous to those who came to her for help, but there was no doubt that she was exponentially more dangerous to those who found themselves on the receiving end of her wrath.

“And what if she sends us on another bounty mission as payment for her help?” she pointed out. “If Kestra has been kidnapped, she won’t last long enough for us to chase down another homicidal lunatic like Kokr.”

“We’ll have to get on her good side, then,” he said as they stepped into the circular central room again. Ge'tal was still sitting at the table, and he glanced up at them as they passed. “We’ll find a way.”

Jay shook her head. “I find it amazing that three-quarters of the time you regard things with such a depressing outlook, then completely flip your personality and make insane risks on blind faith.”

“What can I say?” he said as he keyed open the door to the cockpit. “I’m a complicated individual.”

Oya _to that_ , Jay thought, rolling her eyes.

Shuk'orok was already sitting in the pilot's seat, familiarizing himself with the controls of this new vessel. He was the copilot of Kestra's ship and he seemed hard-pressed to leave those duties behind. He looked up at them as they entered and let out a friendly growl.

"Good," Vhetin said as the Wookiee relinquished the pilot's seat. The Mandalorian strapped himself in and ran a system check as Jay slid into the copilot's seat. Shuk'orok settled himself into the gunner's seat behind her and resumed his work. "Anything out of the ordinary?"

Shuk'orok shook his furry head and howled.

"Good," Vhetin repeated. He flipped a series of switches above his head before saying, "When we get onto the planet's surface, I want you three to stay on the ship. I'm going to do a little advance scouting before we go to meet Sekha."

"Why?" Jay asked. "Who else do we need to worry about apart from her?"

"Ge'tal said that the refueling outpost we need to get into is in the Bostoni Gang's territory. Before we left, I had Venku do a little research and he found that the gang's leading family is currently feuding for control of the family business. This gang war is probably going to affect their desire to let us through their sector."

"Do you have any previous dealings with them?" Jay asked. "Is there anyone you can, you know, call in a favor from?"

"No," Vhetin said. "But I know someone who does."

"Who?"

He hesitated, then said, "Kalyn Farnmir."

~~~~~~~~~

**Underworld, Imperial City (formerly Coruscant)**

Kalyn Farnmir settled herself behind her sniper rifle, slowly adjusting the magnification of the scope as she sighted in on the Gran's chest. She was lying on her belly on the edge of a building rooftop. Her perch offered her a perfect view of the street below while keeping her hidden from any prying eyes below.

A slight rain fell from the cloudy sky above her, making the rifle sights sputter slightly. She disregarded the rain, however, and brushed a strand of wet hair out of her eyes as she squinted into the scope.

She'd been hired to take down the Gran a few weeks before, having been asked for specifically. While on the outside the three-eyed alien looked like little more than a simple businessman in his expensive clothes and shiny jewelry, her employers knew that he was in fact a powerful warlord from the Taris system. He was single-handedly responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Tarisians who defaulted on their loans from his business. The Imperials had chased him away from the city-planet and he'd hidden on Coruscant, eluding all who tried to bring him in.

All but Kalyn. She had tracked him from Taris to Nartosia Prime, all the way here to Corrie. Now, nothing could stop her from taking him down.

The Gran stepped fully out of the restaurant he'd been staying in for the past three hours, surrounded by no fewer than six armed bodyguards. They surveyed the street for a moment before motioning their boss on, clumsily concealing blasters under their coats.

 _Okay scumbag_ , Kalyn thought, her finger tightening on the rifle's firing stud, _time for you to take a little electro-shock nap_.

The targeting reticule on her sniper rifle blinked red as she passed it over the Gran's chest, and she slowly switched the rifle settings to stun. She didn't want to go this far to collect a lower assassination bounty, so she'd take him alive.

His guards would not be so lucky.

She fell into a familiar pattern, letting her breath out and letting her body relax. She slowly tightened her grip on the firing stud, pressing it ever-so-slowly as she waited for the tiny shake of her arc of movement to center the sights on the alien's chest-

Suddenly, the view from her scope was blocked as a heavy combat boot stomped down on the rifle barrel. She cursed as the rifle kicked in her hands and a blue-white ring erupted from the barrel, hitting one of the bodyguards in the head. He was blasted off his feet, landing hard on his back and not moving again.

She scrambled away from the rifle as the remaining guards pulled their weapons and fired at her hiding place. Duracrete chips exploded into the air as the blaster bolts impacted into the roofline. She looked up at the being who'd interrupted her and saw a Mandalorian with black and gray armor standing over her, gauntleted arms folded across his chest plates.

"Kalyn Farnmir," he said. "It's been a while."

"Vhetin," Kalyn growled. "It hasn't been long enough."

"Oh, come on," he said in a hurt tone with an annoying hint of insincerity. "Last time we spoke, Jay and I helped you score a twenty-thousand-cred bounty. I think that should put us in your good books."

He stared at her, not even flinching as bright red blaster bolts flashed only inches past his helmet. As one of the bolts missed him by little more than a centimeter, he cursed quietly and turned his gaze to the street below.

"Hold on fellas," he shouted, waving at them. "She'll be right with you. I just need to talk to her for a bit."

He turned back to her as the guards ignored his request and continued to fire at him. Kalyn crawled to her feet, brushing her body armor off.

"I think I have more reason to be pissed," he said as she glared at him. "Last time we worked together, you downloaded my entire bounty database. I don't know what culture you come from, but in most of the civilized galaxy that's called _stealing_."

She glared at him and said, "Are you going to kill me?"

He snorted. "Are you kidding? Of course not. I'm here to ask for a favor."

"You have a funny way of asking for it."

"It's better than my original plan: stun you in the back, strap you to a chair and _force_ you to help me." He shrugged and said, "I decided against that one. After all, everyone keeps saying I have to be more sociable to my fellow being."

"How thoughtful of you."

"So how about it?" he said, cocking his helmet to one side. "You up for it?"

She stared at him, then sighed and asked, "What's the job?"

"Rescue mission," he replied. "A friend of mine has been kidnapped and I need all the help I can get."

She frowned. "Reward?"

"The... satisfaction of doing your part to save an innocent girl's life?" he ventured.

"Not good enough. Sorry."

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll pay you five thousand out of my own pocket."

"Ten."

"Are you crazy? Seven."

"Deal," Kalyn said. "But after this, consider us even."

He nodded and said, "Fine."

He looked over his shoulder, at the guards who were hurriedly rushing their boss out of the area. Then he looked back to Kalyn and jerked his head toward them. "You need a hand taking this guy down?"

"I didn't until you showed up," she grumbled. She drew her silver-plated pistol and added, "But as long as you're offering..."

He nodded, then pulled his saber-pike from the clips on his rocket pack and leaped over the side of the roof. She followed him, landing on a dumpster and hopping down to street level as she saw him hit the hard ground. He tucked his armored body into a roll and came to his feet, activating the short lightsaber blade on the end of his pike as he did.

The guards hesitated, turning back at the sound of the blade's _snap-hiss_ as it activated.

Kalyn's pistol snapped up and she squeezed off two stun bolts, hitting a guard in the chest and shoulder. He crumpled to the ground, twitching.

Vhetin ducked out of the way of a blaster shot and jumped toward the guards. Spinning, he slashed his saber across a human man's chest, leaving a red-hot gouge in his armor. As the other security guards turned to deal with this new threat, Kalyn picked them all off with precise shots from her blaster. In a few moments, the fight was over and the Gran stood alone in the street.

He stepped back, raising his shaking hands and stammering, "W-who are you?"

"Just messengers," Kalyn said, stepping closer. "From someone who really hates you."

Then she raised her pistol and shot him in the chest. Blue-white stun rounds enveloped the alien, sending him sprawling to the ground. He moaned and twitched, his eyes rolling back in his head.

Vhetin stared at his body, then sheathed his saber and hooked it to his jetpack again. He knelt next to the guard he'd wounded, pulling a hypospray from his belt and injecting it into the man's neck. The man twitched, then sighed and relaxed.

Kalyn knew bacta when she saw it; the man would wake up later with a hell of a headache, but his chest wound would be healed.

"Don't waste your time," she told the Mandalorian as she cuffed the Gran's arms behind his back and hauled the groggy alien to his feet. "When this guy's friends learn that the guards were unable to keep him safe, you know what they'll do."

"It's a kind gesture," Vhetin said, straightening. "The least I can do is give him a fighting chance to make it out alive."

"Nice to see you still have a sense of morality," Farnmir said. In truth, she was a little disappointed. To get ahead in life, one needed to discard sentimentality like that, especially when dealing with the enemy. Vhetin’s biggest shortcoming, for all the rumors that he was a sociopath, was his compassion toward his fellow beings. And one day, someone would exploit that weakness to the detriment of the hunter and everyone close to him, she knew it.

But she didn't point it out and he probably wouldn't listen to her if she did. She just gestured to him and said, "Come on; _Tough Luck_ is docked a few blocks away."

Vhetin surveyed the mess of unconscious men that littered the street for a moment, then turned and followed her. As they walked, the slight drizzle of rain became a torrent, soaking Kalyn's shoulder-length blonde hair, which she'd grown out in the past few months.

"So," he said as they walked, "been keeping busy with the contracts you stole from me?"

"Busy enough," she replied evenly, shoving the Gran in front of her. "But I don't think that's any of your business. What about this rescue mission? Who was kidnapped?"

"A friend of mine named Kestra Hett. She went missing almost five days ago."

Kalyn frowned as her ship, the _Tough Luck,_ came into view around the corner. Its winged saber shape was resting on a nearby landing pad, little more than a dark silhouette against the rain. A loud thunderclap exploded overhead as she pulled her comm from her belt.

"Computer!" she shouted over the noise of the thunder, squinting against the driving rain. "Open the docking ramp! Clearance code Bantha-Fifty-Six!""

"Of course, mistress," replied the smooth mechanical voice of her ship's onboard computer. With a whirr of hydraulics, a hatch opened up on the back of the ship, just below the rectangular green stripe of its propulsion engines. A landing ramp slid out of the ship's housing, beckoning them inside.

Kalyn gladly strode up the ramp and out of the rain, shoving the Gran inside in front of her. Vhetin followed at a more sedate pace; he may have worked with her before, but he knew that she was still dangerous.

That was good. She didn't know what he'd do to pay her back for stealing from him, but as long as he knew she wasn't worth messing with he wouldn't try any funny business.

"If this girl went missing almost a week ago," she grunted, hauling her prisoner toward the ship's cages, "then whoever you're hunting has a hell of a head-start."

"I realize that."

"And with cases like this, where the kidnappers don't ask for a ransom, the chances are slim she's still alive."

"Yes, I know. But even if she's dead, I won't stop until I find a body."

She glanced at him as she shoved the Gran - who was beginning to shake off the effects of the stun bolt - into one of the cages, then locked and ray-shielded the bars.

"Okay," she said. "But let's get something straight; I'm not gonna go gallivanting across the galaxy on a wild bantha chase for this girl. Seven thousand credits is the going price for a week's service as a bodyguard. You have seven days, then I'm on my way."

He nodded slowly, staring at her through the expressionless faceplate of his battle helmet. "Fine. If that's the case, then there's no time to waste. Let's get moving."

"Where are you going to head first?" she inquired.

"We need to review security footage from the refueling outpost in the Bostoni Gang's sector. We need you as a guide, and for permission to get in we need-"

"Sekha," Kalyn sighed. "Great. This contract is getting better and better already."


	6. Sekha's Domain

**One hour later**

Vhetin and Farnmir strode together up the ramp leading into _Void_. Vhetin slammed his fist twice against the bulkhead and called, "Stand down guys; I'm back."

At the sound of his voice, Shuk'orok's furry head poked out from the doorway of one room. He howled at them, then stepped fully out and holstered his huge pistol.

"Nice to see you're alive as well," Vhetin said. "Where's Jay and Ge'tal?"

He thumped his chest and growled, jerking his head back down the hallway.

"The cockpit?" Vhetin said, frowning. "Together? What are they doing?"

The Wookiee shrugged and let out a gentle-sounding growl. Vhetin scowled at him through his helmet and said, "Yes, I'm aware of human mating behavior. I don't need a walking carpet like you walking me through it."

He let out a howl and thumped his black-furred chest before stalking off into the ship, grumbling and growling to himself. Farnmir watched him go with an inquisitive eyebrow raised. She glanced at Vhetin and said, "What's with the Wookiee?"

"Kestra's copilot," Vhetin explained as he strode toward the cockpit with a scowl. "I'll explain later once I've got everyone assembled."

Kalyn nodded and leaned back against the bulkhead, folding her arms across her chest. "Fine by me. I'll be waiting here."

Vhetin barely paid attention to the huntress; his full attention was focused on what Jay and Ge'tal were doing alone together in the cockpit. He didn't care if his partner had decided to hook up with the bounty hunter and it wasn't his business if she had. He didn't have a problem as long as they saved this little romance until _after_ Kestra was safe.

But as he approached the cockpit, he heard muffled talking and laugher. Frowning slightly, he keyed open the door and stepped in.

Ge'tal was standing behind Jay, his hand on hers as he guided her through the motions of spinning her pistol around her finger and holstering it.

"Okay," Ge'tal said quietly. "Now that we've taken the ammo cartridge out we shouldn't have any more accidents. Now remember, _smooth motion_. If you jerk your finger you'll just drop it again."

Jay's face was a mask of concentration as she tried spinning the pistol around her trigger finger. After a few rotations the weapon slipped off and clattered across the deck, coming to a rest at Vhetin's feet. She laughed and went to retrieve it before seeing Vhetin standing in the doorway.

"Oh," she said, her smile slowly fading as Vhetin knelt and picked up the weapon, "you're back."

Vhetin stepped into the cockpit and looked around. The air was thick with the metallic tinge of a recent discharge. He traced his fingers over a recent burn mark on the bulkhead and said, "What's this?"

"The pistol slipped," Jay said, frowning at his cold tone. "It fired accidentally, but it didn't damage anything. We were going to clean up the carbon scoring before you got back. Are you okay?"

"No I'm _not_ okay!" he said, slamming his fist against the bulkhead. Both Jay and Ge'tal jumped, surprised by his suddenly vicious tone. He spun to them and snapped, "What are you two, a pair of giggling teenagers? My friend has been kidnapped, possibly _killed_. I'm running my ass off trying to track her down, then I come back here and find you two screwing around like this?"

"Vhetin-" Ge'tal began, but the black-armored Mandalorian interrupted him.

"You think this is all a _game_? You think it's a kriffing _joke_?"

They said nothing. Ge'tal stared at Vhetin, looking guilty and uneasy, and Jay stared at the floor, shifting her feet uncomfortable. Vhetin stared at them for a moment more before shaking his head and spitting, "How _dare_ you."

Then he turned and stormed out of the cockpit. He called over his shoulder, "When you two are ready to act like responsible adults who actually give a _shab_ about the gravity of this situation, Farnmir and I will be waiting to head out."

His HUD's wraparound vision showed Jay and Ge'tal start in surprise and head after him.

"What?" Jay said, falling into step next to him. "You found her?"

"Yes."

"And she agreed to help us?" Ge'tal asked.

"Yes," he repeated curtly. "As long as I pay her myself. It's nice to know that at least one of us is taking this situation seriously."

Shuk'orok stuck his furry head out of the engine room door and howled in indignation, but Vhetin ignored him.

Jay bit her lower lip, then said, "Look, Stripes, we're really sorry. We were just trying to relieve some of the tension. We're worried about Kestra, too."

"Hell yeah," Ge'tal piped in, sounding eager to get on Vhetin's good side again. "She's my captain; if anyone should be worried about her it should be me."

"Then start acting like it," he snapped as they stepped into the circular central room. Farnmir was waiting for them, surveying the holographic readouts on one wall with her thumbs hooked into her belt.

"Don't get any funny ideas," he said as he stepped closer. " _Void_ 's firewalls have been tripled since the last time you were allowed to wander around unsupervised."

She snorted and said, "I wouldn't dream of it; I'm still working my way through the bounty list I downloaded last time. You guys ready?"

"Let's just go," Vhetin growled, heading for the exit ramp.

Jay sighed as she watched him walk away, feeling guilt gnaw at the pit of her stomach. Farnmir watched him disappear down the hall as well before turning to Jay and saying, "So how've you been, Rookie?"

"Peachy," she muttered. "Just peachy."

Vhetin's voice echoed through the halls of the ship as he shouted, "Shuk'orok, you coming with or staying?"

The black-furred Wookiee came bounding through the halls, letting out a rumble as he went. He grabbed his huge pistol from the table and holstered it before disappearing as well.

Farnmir grinned. "I'm not sure I understand what's going on here," she said, looking to Jay, "but I think you just got replaced."

Jay sighed again and set off after her partner. "Let's just go. The sooner we find Sekha, the better."

~~~~~~~~

Vhetin didn't speak to her the entire repulsor bus ride, instead busying himself with a battle plan on how they'd track down Kestra (a conversation that was shared only with Shuk'orok and Kalyn, pointedly excluding Ge'tal and Jay). He wouldn't even tell her where they were going.

So she sat alone in relative silence the entire trip trying to ignore the curious stares thrown her way by other patrons. After all, it wasn't every being who traveled in the company of Mandalorians.

Ge'tal tried to come and sit next to her, but she didn't want to talk to him either. She was too busy tearing herself up for her idiocy.

Vhetin was right; it was immature and insulting that she had been screwing around when there was work to be done. Instead of messing around with Ge'tal, she should have been researching more about the Bonstoni Gang or trying to track down this mysterious 'Lord Draco' that her partner had heard about. This was no time for games, and the margin for error on this hunt was extremely thin; any slip-ups and Kestra could be killed.

"Look," Ge'tal said quietly, "I'm sorry. This whole thing is my fault. I distracted you from your job and... well, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said, equally quietly. "I should have been more focused on the job. I'm just so tense about this whole thing, and I thought..."

"I know," he said. "I'm the same way; I've flown with Kestra for years and I'm just as worried about her as Vhetin is. It's just that when I get really worked up like this, I reach out to other people to help me let off steam."

It was a stark contrast to Vhetin, who retreated inward in times of stress, refusing all external assistance. She glanced at her partner, who was still engaged in conversation with Farnmir and Shuk'orok. His movements were quick and tense, and when he wasn't moving his hands were balled into fists. He was obviously just as anxious as the rest of them were.

She tore her gaze away from him and looked back to Ge'tal. She nodded and said, "I'm the same way. It's something I picked up while serving with the Navy. We could always come to each other about our problems because we were all one big family."

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. That's exactly it. _Vode an_."

He glanced at Vhetin and added, "Not that he gives a damn about family."

She sighed and shook her head. The last thing she wanted now was more fighting. She stared at the floor and quietly said, "I just want this all to be over. I want to find Kestra and have everything go back to the way it was."

Ge'tal murmured, "I heard once that a good way to deal with life when things take a turn for the worse..."

He placed his hand on hers.

"... is to throw in a change that's good."

She looked down at it, then up at him. He was staring distractedly ahead, his eyes unfocused. He blinked, then looked at her and smiled.

She couldn't help herself. She smiled back.

It was another five minutes of silence before they arrived at their destination: an old abandoned pumping station above one of Coruscant's gigantic underground water reservoirs. In front of them was a medium-sized building with pipes and conduits poking out of the duracrete in every conceivable direction. A slight hum of motors sounded within, showing that the place wasn't completely abandoned.

What they were doing here - or, more precisely, what Sekha would be doing here - was beyond Jay. She glanced to Vhetin for explanation, but he coldly stayed silent. She opened her mouth to ask out loud, but jumped as a deafening clap of thunder exploded across the sky. Ge'tal put a calming hand on her shoulder as it began to pour down rain again.

Still, Vhetin refused to explain the situation, instead walking straight up to the building and silently disappearing inside. Fortunately, Farnmir was on top of the situation. She gestured to the old building in front of them and said, "Doesn't look like much, does it?"

"Is it supposed to _be_ something?" Ge'tal asked, frowning as he pulled his red helmet over his head to shield his face from the rain.

"You're looking at the entrance to Sekha's new illegal nightclub, The Asylum."

Shuk'orok howled, looking over the area uneasily. Ge'tal glanced at him and said, "Well get inside if you don't like the rain you big oaf."

"So how do we get in?" Jay asked as they followed Vhetin inside. "The reservoirs are hundreds of feet underground and I don't think-"

She fell silent as she and the others stepped inside to see no less than six Ubese mercenaries, standing in front of what looked like an old elevator shaft. Their facemasks were so similar to the way Vhetin had described Kestra's Sith attackers that for a moment she thought these dark assassins had found them.

But the mercs just stared out from their contoured helmets, hands resting on their wicked-looking electroshock staffs. Vhetin was currently engaged in heated conversation with one. The merc's collection of scalp trophies and bone necklaces obviously denoted him as the leader.

"Listen to me you _shabla or'dinii_ ," he snarled, "I'm telling you, Sekha knows me."

The merc leader responded with a gravely reply of " _Ay choto. Ek joto._ "

"No, _listen_ to me," Vhetin snapped, grabbing the front of the being's flak vest. "Call her. It'll take five seconds at-"

The merc slapped his hand away and clenched a fist around the Mando's throat, snapping, " _Ek yoto!_ "

Vhetin moved before anyone could say anything; in the blink of an eye, he'd pulled a lightsaber from his belt and brought it up, severing the merc's arm at the elbow. The being let out a warbling scream and staggered back, clutching at the stump of his arm.

Jay's hand moved toward her pistol, but Vhetin was already in motion. He pulled a pistol from his belt and shot two more Ubese in the chest while he slashed at the three others with his lit saber. In moments, all six mercenaries were dead or unconscious, their bodies scattered around the interior of the building.

Vhetin stared at his handiwork for a moment, then turned to Jay and the others and murmured, "Well? Are you coming?"

Ge'tal leaned over to Jay and murmured, "Is he always this reckless?"

"Pretty much," she whispered back.

"What's his problem?"

Vhetin's voice replied, saying, "Everyone has a different theory."

They both looked at the Mandalorian, who turned and stared at them. They both fell silent as he pointed toward the lift shaft and said, "Elevator. Now."

Kalyn chuckled quietly and stepped into the lift. When Shuk'orok and Ge'tal squeezed in after her, there was little room left for anyone else.

"We'll head down into the antechamber," Kalyn said, "secure the area. You two can take the next lift down."

Then the elevator car slid down with a whir of motors and the three vanished from sight. Jay found herself alone with Vhetin for the first time since he'd yelled at her and Ge'tal in the cockpit.

She bounced on the balls of her feet uncomfortably and cleared her throat.

"Look," she said hesitantly. She bit her lip and continued, "You were right about what you said earlier. And I'm sorry for my behavior."

"An apology isn't what I need to forgive you," he said, almost too quiet for her to hear. It was the first thing he'd said to her since his earlier outburst. He turned his head slightly toward her and murmured, "Action allows for forgiveness. Not words."

"Then what do I have to do?" she asked. "What can I do to prove that I'm taking this seriously?"

She couldn't understand why, but she didn't want him to stay mad at her. The thought of her partner thinking of her as an immature fool was mortifying. She wanted him to think of her as a worthy partner again, and she was willing to do just about anything for it.

"Time will tell," was all he would say.

The lift slid back up to their level, and he gestured for her to step in. He followed her and hit the button the send the car moving again. With a shaky jolt, the durasteel cage car began to descend into the darkness below.

The cage rattled and shook as they fell deeper into the facility and Jay had to constantly shift her balance to avoid toppling over.

"So..." she said as she put a hand against the side of the cage to brace herself. "what's the plan? You just killed all of Sekha's guards. That's not exactly going to put her in a good mood."

"They were a threat," he said. "I eliminated the threat. A cold-blooded killer like Sekha will appreciate that."

“And if she doesn’t?” Jay posed.

“Then she becomes the threat.”

She sighed and let the matter drop. She waited another few seconds, the wind rushing past the car as they sank lower and lower. Then with a screech of gears, the car slammed into the bottom floor. The impact made Jay stagger against her partner, who put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

Farnmir, Ge’tal, and Shuk’orok were waiting for them in the small maintenance chamber for the reservoir pool. Ge’tal and Kalyn were sweeping the area for explosives while Shuk’orok was restlessly shaking water from his furry pelt.

Jay took a step out of the car, looking around the area. Like the building far above, the antechamber was full of conduits and pumps designed to carry the water from the underground pools to the storage pods on the surface. The entire area hummed and Jay could feel the duracrete vibrating beneath her feet, sending ripples along the puddles of water that covered the ground. Jay cautiously took another step inward, careful to avoid the deeper puddles.

Vhetin stepped into the room, his helmeted gaze roaming slowly over the area. He was probably scanning the antechamber for booby traps as well.

Farnmir knelt near one corner, rubbing her fingertips over the damp duracrete beneath their feet.

“Lot of water passing through this area,” she observed. “Leaking pipes maybe?”

“In a reservoir?” Ge’tal said, hooking his thumbs into his belt. “No way. The guys who run these places are paid by the amount of water they’re able to drag to the surface. They wouldn’t let a single drop escape their grasp.”

“So what is it?” Jay said, frowning as she stepped up next to him. “Condensation?”

“I don’t think so,” Vhetin murmured. “I think-“

The blare of an intercom suddenly cut through the room and the seductive voice of a Twi’lek female said, “Intruders. State your business here.”

Vhetin looked up at the intercom and raised his voice as he said, “We’re here to see Sekha. We want to talk to her.”

“Hmm,” the Twi’lek female said. “Well, the security cams show that the surface guard has been neutralized.”

With a roar, conduits began popping out of their housing and water began to flood into the room. The elevator car slid upward into the shaft again, leaving them stranded. In moments, the cold water was lapping around their ankles.

“That doesn’t exactly seem like the work of someone who just wants to talk.”

“Sekha,” Vhetin said warningly, “I’m not here to cause trouble.”

“Ah, but you’ve already caused me trouble. And cost me a great deal of money. Do you have any idea how hard it is to come by Ubese guards these days?”

The water continued to pour into the room, and the flood had now risen to knee-level.

Farnmir glanced at Vhetin, then said, “Screw it, guys. Start climbing; try to stay on top of it.”

She tried to grab on to one of the conduits, but she cursed as the tube slipped out of her hands. She fell back into the water with a curse, surfacing a moment later with her hair plastered to her head.

“You didn’t really think I would leave people like you with such an easy way out?” Sekha asked. “This facility is outfitted with non-friction carbon tubes. Use your imagination, people.”

The water had now risen to their waists. Jay looked down at it and said, “Well this is just great. What now? Tread water until we drown?”

“Ge’tal,” Vhetin snapped abandoning negotiations as he waded over to the red-armored Mandalorian. “Seal your suit. We’ve got enough air for a half-hour of underwater operations.”

“What about Shuk’orok and the girls?”

“Shuk’orok’s tall enough to stay above the water for a while,” Vhetin said as his armor suit pressurized with a loud hiss. “And if we hold Kalyn and Jay on our shoulders, they might have enough time to-“

“To what?” Farnmir snapped. “Sekha’s not going to let us out of here.”

“You have any other suggestions?” Vhetin snapped. “Beg her, flatter her, pay her to leave us alone, just make her shut off the water!”

He gestured to Farnmir and molded his hands into a cup. “Come on!"

“How gallant,” she said as she put her foot in his hands. He grunted and hoisted her up onto his shoulders as cold waves splashed against his neck.

“Normally I don’t mind having the girl on top,” Ge’tal muttered as he hoisted Jay onto his shoulders. “Not so much in this situation.”

“Stay focused,” Jay said as she braced her hands against the ceiling. “Even with this plan we won’t be able to keep above the water forever.”

“Do us _Mando_ _’ade_ a favor?” he asked, looking up at her. “Try and make it quick. I’ve never really decided whether I’d prefer death by suffocation or drowning. If it’s okay with you, I’d rather not have to make the choice.”

Then the water level rose over his head and his voice was cut off. Vhetin went under moments later, silently waiting as the water rose over his helmet.

“So,” Jay said, grimacing, “what do we do?”

Shuk’orok howled and slapped his paws against the water, making a tremendous splash. Farnmir winced against the spray, then called, ”Sekha! It’s Kalyn Farnmir!”

“Ah,” the gangstress’ voice sighed. “How nice to hear from you again Kalyn. I haven’t seen you since you worked with Kassh… rest his dear soul. What’s got you tangled up with Mandalorians?”

“Long story,” Farnmir growled. “Let us live, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Mm… sorry, you’ll have to do better than that.”

Shuk’orok howled and tried to stand on his toes as the water began to slap against his chin. A few moments later, he too disappeared beneath the waves.

The dark water rose faster now, to where Jay could actually see the flood rising up the walls. She arched her back, trying to stretch her spine and stay above the water as it splashed against her chin.

"Kalyn..." she said, her heart pounding as the water continued to rise.

“I know better than to try and appeal to your good side,” Farnmir said, her voice sounding definitely worried as she struggled to keep her face above the water, “but you’re about to kill off five top-notch bounty hunters. Do you really want to eliminate such valuable assets?”

There was no reply from the intercom speaker. Jay chose to take that as a sign that she was thinking about it. Farnmir stared at the intercom, bracing herself against the ceiling. She waited a moment, then said, "Sekha? Are you there?"

There was a loud, echoing clank and the rising tide halted. Jay gasped as she tried to keep her mouth and nose above the surface. It wasn’t easy.

“What happened?“ she said, her voice gurgling slightly as water flooded into her mouth as she talked. “Did she stop?“

Farnmir just narrowed her green eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, there was a deafening chugging sound, and the sloshing water finally began to recede.

A sigh sounded over the intercom and Sekha said, "I guess if you were able to get past the guards, they were of no use to me anyway."

Shuk'orok's head broke the water level and the Wookiee let out a gasping howl, shaking water out of his shaggy hair. A few moments later, Vhetin and Ge'tal appeared from beneath the water as well. Ge'tal let out a relieved sigh and said, "Glad that's over. I was getting worried for a while."

The water was quickly sucked through a drain in the floor. In only a few minutes, the room was silent once more, and the thrumming beat of the water pumps resumed.

"Nice work, Farnmir," Vhetin said as the woman jumped down from his shoulders. Jay hopped off Ge’tal as well, grimacing as she looked at her clothes, which were soaked through. Her armorleather jacket was sopping wet, dripping water onto the floor in streams. She pulled it off and wrung it out to the best of her ability. As she did, she noticed that Vhetin and Ge'tal were completely dry, save for droplets of water on their armor plates.

"How'd you two manage to keep dry?" she asked. "You were completely submerged."

"These suits are made to withstand hard vacuum," Vhetin said, brushing water droplets off his gauntlets. "Water resistance is a given."

Shuk'orok roared and slammed his huge fists against the duracrete wall. He tossed his head and snarled.

"Whoa, calm down," Ge'tal said, raising his hands in a ‘calm down’ gesture. "It's okay now. You won't have to go near the water again any time soon."

The Wookiee shook his furry head and howled. He was about to continue when there was another loud clank in the room, making everyone fall instantly silent.

Jay looked around the room, heart pounding. Was Sekha going to turn the water back on?

But after a series of metallic clanks, a duracrete section of the wall slid into the floor, revealing a reinforced durasteel door behind it. There was another series of clanks and pings and the door slid open, revealing a long, dark hallway. The loud pounding hum grew louder, coming from the direction of the hall.

Vhetin stepped forward slowly, then murmured, "I think that's our invitation to come in."

"Why do I get the feeling that we've gone out of the frying pan and into the _shabla_ fire?" Ge'tal muttered as they stepped inside.

As they stepped down the dark hallway, Jay realized that the low pounding sound she had assumed was water pumps was actually the muffled beat of music. As the durasteel doors slid open, they were blasted with a flood of multi-colored light and roaring sound.

Jay blinked and rubbed her eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the flashing red, yellow, and scarlet lights of the nightclub. When she finally regained some semblance of sight, she saw that they were standing on one of the middle levels of a huge tiered dock that stretched out over the dark water of the underground reservoir. There were more than six floors, stretching in an angular U shape around the dock. Bright fluorescent lights lit the entire area with a reddish glow and durasteel cages hung from the ceiling, occupied by barely-clothed human and Twi'lek dancers.

The nightclub was packed with beings, drinking, talking, or dancing; there must have been hundreds of people there. A large terraced stage rose out of the center of the nightclub floor and a live band was performing to the cheers and encouragement of the mob below. A spindly dug with painful-looking piercings was singing into the stage amplicoder with a gravely, raspy voice.

Farnmir stepped forward, spreading her arms and saying, "Welcome to The Asylum, where the scum of the Underworld come to conduct business, lay low from opponents, or simply let off steam."

Ge'tal stepped up next to her, resting a hand on the railing that ran along the edge of the tier. He surveyed the huge nightclub and nodded. "Impressive. Sekha definitely has taste. So where do we find her?"

Vhetin's voice was almost drowned out by the pounding music as he said, "If I know her, which I do, then she'll be in a place where she can lord over it all. I'm guessing one of the top floors."

"I don't want to sound negative," Jay pointed out, "but this place is _huge_. How are we going to-"

Suddenly, a tattooed, red-skinned Twi'lek male dressed in a black jumpsuit stepped toward them. He gestured and said, "You will come with me. My mistress is expecting you."

Ge'tal chuckled as they followed the Twi'lek up to the higher levels of the nightclub. "You were hoping we wouldn't be able to find her, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I kind of was," she admitted.

"Well no such luck," Ge'tal said. "You don't seem to be-"

"Ge'tal," Vhetin interjected, "take Shuk'orok and spread out into the nightclub. Keep an eye out for trouble."

"There's hundreds of people here," Ge'tal said. "Finding a few who are trying to kill us-"

"Just do it," Vhetin growled.

"You got it boss," Ge'tal sighed. He gestured to Shuk'orok and the two disappeared into the crowd.

Vhetin, Jay, and Farnmir were led up to the highest level, a hundred and fifty feet above the nightclub floor. As they climbed the stairs, they stepped into a plush V.I.P area with luxurious reclining couches and a private bar. Attendants bustled about, hurrying to serve their masters.

Sekha herself was surrounded by Twi'lek attendants and other guests, laying back on a lavish couch and dressed in a form-fitting skinsuit that seemed to shift color as she moved. She opened a single eye lazily as the hunters were led toward her and grinned widely.

"Well, well, well," she said, sitting up and motioning her majordomo away. "If it isn't my favorite bounty hunter in the entire big, bad galaxy."

The hunters looked among themselves before she said, "Vhetin, come up here and let me have a look at you."

Vhetin hesitantly took a step forward as Sekha opened her arms and wrapped him in a quick hug. She leaned back after a moment, her arms wrapped around his neck, and grinned coquettishly. "And what brings you and your friends here?"

Vhetin didn't speak. Jay assumed that it was because he didn't want the gangstress to quickly decide to send them off on a hunting mission as payment for her help.

Sekha laughed at his silence and stepped away. She spread her arms, gesturing to the nightclub around her.

"Come on, Cin," she said. "You've braved the perils of The Asylum just to talk to me. Don't tell me that the nexu's got your tongue now."

"We... need your help," he reluctantly said, clenching a fist.

She raised an eyebrow and smiled inquisitively. "Oh? Is that so?"

"We wouldn't be asking if it wasn't really important," Jay threw in. She wanted to show Vhetin that she was taking the mission seriously. If that meant attracting Sekha's dangerous attention, so be it.

Sure enough, Sekha turned her gaze to Jay and she tipped her head slightly, a cunning smile stretching across her beautiful features. "Ah, Miss Kolta. It's been a while."

"It's Moqena now," Jay said.

"Good for you," the Twi'lek said with a wink. "You're finally settling into the hunting life. Tell me, have you considered my job offer?"

"I... I seem to have misplaced the datachip you gave me," Jay said nervously. In actuality, she'd thrown the chip into a garbage incinerator moments after Sekha had given it to her. Jay didn't ever want to become a pawn of someone as twisted and ruthless as Sekha.

"We'll have time for catching up later," Farnmir said as she stepped forward, coming to a halt next to Vhetin. "We need your permission to look at the security footage for one of your refueling posts."

"Which post?" the gangstress asked, batting her eyes innocently.

"Polstoria's Post," Farnmir answered. "Smack in the middle of the Bostoni sector."

Sekha narrowed her dark eyes and frowned. She tapped her chin thoughtfully and turned back to her couch. With smooth, lithe movements she slid onto her couch and folded her legs casually.

"Okay," she said at last. "You have my permission."

"What?" Jay said, frowning in confusion. "Just 'okay'? No catch? No strings attached?"

"Nope," Sekha said. "No strings at all."

"Why?" Vhetin said, sounding suspicious. "You don't even know why we need to look at the footage. What do you stand to gain from this?"

Sekha sighed and tossed one of her lekku over her shoulder. "I'm going to let you mercs in on a little secret: Polstoria is dead."

"I'm guessing that's the guy who ran the refueling outpost," Jay ventured.

"Spot on, Kolta," Sekha said. She smiled and said, "Oops. I mean _Moqena_. My apologies."

"Okay," Jay said. "I'll bite; why is Polstoria dead and who killed him?"

Sekha shook her head and said, "Take a look at the security footage and you'll find out. Let's just say that if you have anything to do with it, _you_ will be doing _me_ a favor just by getting involved."

Jay was about to say more, but Vhetin bowed his head respectfully and said, "Thank you for your time."

"Come back soon," Sekha said with a wink.

Vhetin spun on his heel and walked back toward the stairs leading down toward the exit. Jay glanced between him and Sekha, then hurried after him.

"That was simple enough," she sighed in relief.

"Don't bet on it," he said. "Sekha was unusually cooperative this time. That means something has her worried."

"Obviously she's worried about these Sith guys. They killed one of her employees."

"Yeah," Vhetin said. "Maybe. Let's just find Ge'tal and Shuk'orok and get the hell out of here."

They found Ge’tal on the nightclub floor, chatting up two pretty Mirialen fems. He glanced up as Vhetin, Jay, and Farnmir approached and quickly gulped down the rest of his drink.

“It was nice talking to you girls,” he said as Vhetin grabbed his arm and forcibly led him away. “Maybe I’ll see you around-”

Vhetin shoved the red-armored Mando in front of him and said, “Stay _focused_ , Ge’tal. We’ve got work to do.”

They found Shuk’orok standing in one corner of the first level of the nightclub, searching the crowd with his dark eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Come on, fuzzball,” Ge’tal said. “We’re heading out.”

Shuk’orok let out a sniffling rumble, and Ge’tal said, “I don’t care. Let’s go.”

Jay noticed Vhetin's helmeted gaze shift slightly to Shuk’orok and she frowned at her partner’s interest. She stepped closer, out of the stream of beings making their way up the stairs to the second floor, and said, “What? What did he say?”

“He said he smelled someone who meant us harm,” Ge’tal said, shrugging. “He’s just being paranoid.”

“Wookiees can sense things that humans can’t,” Jay pointed out. “Maybe he’s telling the truth.”

The red-armored bounty hunter shook his head and patted his messy black hair down before pulling his helmet over his head. Once it was secure, he said, “It’s just a false alarm. Shuk’orok can be a nervous wreck when it comes to these kidnapping cases.”

The Wookiee shook his furry head and clapped his hands, and Vhetin said, “Where?”

Shuk’orok howled and pointed up, to which Vhetin said, “The top floor? Interesting...”

“What?” Jay asked, looking between the Wookiee and her partner. The top floor was where they’d spoken to Sekha. Was there someone up there who’d been watching them? One of Kestra’s Sith kidnappers, perhaps?

But Vhetin just brushed past her and said, “Come on. We need to move out.”

~~~~~~~~

A razor-bladed hand gripped the railing overlooking the nightclub floor, where the bounty hunters were slowly making their way to their companion. Xenophon waited until the hunters made their way out of the nightclub before turning back to Sekha.

“You came dangerously close to revealing us,” he boomed. “That is a mistake that you will not make twice.”

Sekha leaned back against her couch and laughed, rubbing the flower-shaped tattoo over her right eye. “What are you going to do? Kill me?”

“I was considering it.”

At his words, the gangstress’ guards - all of whom were fellow Twi’leks - pulled blasters and vibroswords and pointed them at him threateningly. He stared at all of them through the T-slit visor of his helmet, then turned his dark gaze to Sekha.

“This is an unwise course of action.”

She shrugged nonchalantly, adjusting her revealing outfit before re-folding her legs and staring at him. “You don’t seem to understand that this is _my_ city.”

She spread her arms and gestured to the nightclub as she said, “Down here, in The Asylum, _I_ am in charge.”

She sighed and said, "Its a shame you had to kidnap Kestra. She was such a good hunter. An invaluable asset, really. I can’t even count the number of times she brought in enemies of Bloody Dawn."

"She has the potential to become even more powerful," Xenophon growled, "under the tutelage of Lord Draco."

She laughed. "I'm half hoping that she'll escape on her own, just so your precious Lord Draco can be put in his place."

"Take care what you say, Twi'lek."

"No, _you_ take care," she said, deadly serious now. "This isn't your Old Republic any more. Supernatural powers take you nowhere in this world. In the Empire, _money_ is power."

In a single motion, Xenophon drew his scarlet lightsaber and rushed forward. He was dimly aware of five fellow Stalkers melting out of thin air behind Sekha’s guards, igniting their own weapons or simply eviscerating their enemies with their taloned hands.

Xenophon ducked with supernatural speed as a teal-skinned Twi’lek male slashed at him with a glowing blue vibrosword. He grabbed the being’s wrist and broke it with a quick wrench before drawing his lightsaber across his throat. He slashed his bladed hand across the face of another shouting guard as he let the first Twi’lek’s body crumple to the ground.

He turned just in time to see another guard fire a shot at him. He brought his saber up to block the blaster bolt, but was too late. The bolt hit him square in the helmet forehead. He staggered back a few steps, then straightened and let out a low growl as he ran his fingers over the smoking crater in his smooth helmet face. Then he ran for the guard and drove his saber through the being’s chest.

As he let the Twi’lek’s limp corpse fall to the floor, he slowly turned back to Sekha. All of her guards were dead, lying scattered across the ground. The five armored Stalkers had set up a perimeter around the gangstress, sabers lit in their hands. She had not moved from her position on the couch and was staring at the Sith calmly, arms folded across her chest.

The entire battle had lasted less than ten seconds, Xenophon noted with some satisfaction. He took a step toward the Twi’lek female, his boots leaving bloody footprints on the ground.

“Your feeble weapons are no match for the power of the Dark Side,” he snarled.

Sekha tipped her head back and laughed. “The Dark Side? A fairy tale.”

“Blasphemy!” one of the Stalkers spat.

Sekha turned to the armored man and raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? If there is really an all-powerful, mystical Force guiding everything, why didn’t you just step out and kill Vhetin and his friends when they were right here, in your grasp?”

“Our Lord has ordered us to lure him to the refueling post,” the Stalker snarled.

“Oh? Then it’s your Master who is really controlling you,” Sekha said with a knowing smile. “Not the Force.”

“Silence!” Xenophon snapped. In a quick motion, he stepped forward, grabbed Sekha’s wrists, and hoisted them over her head. The gangstress was yanked into the air, her feet dangling at least a foot off the floor as the Stalker held her in the air. He pulled his arm back and placed the glowing blade of his lightsaber only inches from her belly.

“Ooh,” Sekha sighed as she was pulled toward him, her arms held above her head. She shook her lekku behind her shoulders, then grinned into Xenophon‘s nightmarish faceplate and said, “So _vigorous_. I like that in a man.”

“All it would take,” Xenophon snarled, “is for me to move my hand forward a half-inch. A half-inch and for all your power, you are little more than carrion.”

“Then do it,” she said, excitement sparkling in her dark eyes. “Show me that you’re not merely a pawn of your masters.”

When he didn’t move, she leaned forward, until her lips brushed against the metal covering his ear.

“ _Do it_ ,” she whispered.

With a growl, he tossed her away, back onto her luxurious couch. She grunted as she landed, then smoothed out her rumpled skinsuit. She languidly stretched, then settled herself back into her earlier position.

“As I said,” she sighed triumphantly, “you’re the servant of your Masters, not the Force.”

She shrugged and continued, “Vhetin and his friends are on their way to the refueling post. Your trap is set, so I believe our business is done. Shoo, go on back to your Master like the obedient dog you are.”

Xenophon stared at her, then gestured to his Stalkers and said, “Come. We have much work to do.”


	7. The Sith Attack

**Polstoria** **’s Post, Bostoni Sector, Imperial City**

When the hunters made their way to Polstoria's refueling post, they found that they weren't the only ones interested in the post owner's death. As their repulsor bus pulled up to the building, Vhetin saw that the area was swarming with Imperial Security Force speeders and shocktroopers in white-red armor had cordoned off the area.

Jay stared through the window, her face pulling down in a scowl as she saw the Imperials. "It looks like the Imperials have taken an interest in the post. What're the chances they've chased away the kidnappers?"

"Or accidentally ruined the security footage?" Ge'tal added. "These guys are masters of screwing up crime scenes."

"Don't worry," Kalyn said. "I can handle this."

"And how are you going to do that?" the red-armored Mando said skeptically. "Wave your pistol and take everyone hostage?"

"No, smartass," Farnmir said, glaring at him. "For your information, I happen to be in good standing with the Bostoni Gang, which has infiltrated the local ISF forces. All these guys have to do is report to the Bostoni bosses that I'm asking to get in and we'll have the entire place to ourselves."

"It's the reason I decided to bring Farnmir on in the first place," Vhetin said from his seat in front of them. He turned back to them and said, "That means when we get on the ground, follow her lead."

"Glad someone's finally agreeing to listen to me," Kalyn said as the bus glided down to the landing dock. The doors opened up and she calmly hopped off the bus and strode toward the line of shocktroopers.

"Hi there," she said, folding her arms. One of the troopers, his armor adorned with a tangle of bright red stripes that signified him as a member of local law enforcement, held up a hand.

"I'm sorry ma'am," the trooper said, his voice sounding gravely and threatening over his vocoder. "This is a restricted area. No civilians are allowed to enter this facility."

"I believe your superiors will think differently."

The trooper's contoured faceplate angled down slightly in confusion. "What?"

"Tell your supervisor that Kalyn Farnmir is here and that she wants full access to the refueling post."

"I don't think-"

" _Tell_ him," Farnmir pressed, her tone and gaze leaving no room for argument. Vhetin found that one of her most redeeming qualities as a hunter; as cunning as she could be, she was strong-willed and would let little get in between her and her objective. It was the single-minded outlook of an experienced hunter.

The trooper jumped slightly at her tone, then turned away and put a hand against his earpiece. As Vhetin and the others followed, he heard the trooper saying, "Yes sir. Yes. Yes sir. Affirmative."

He faced Kalyn again with a sigh, then motioned over his shoulder and sighed, "You can go in. The supervisor is expecting you."

The troopers grudgingly moved aside to allow the hunters through. They'd only taken a few steps inside when a tall, thin man in his mid-thirties jogged toward them. He had a big grin on his face as he called, "Dear Kalyn! How are you my girl?"

Kalyn embraced the man warmly as he kissed her cheek and said, "It's good to see you. It's been a long time."

"Vasi," she greeted him as he held her at arm's length. "It’s so good to see you."

She turned to the other hunters and said, "This is Vasi Muldoon, one of the Bostoni overlords. He's in charge of-"

"Ah ah," the man interrupted with a grin. "Please refrain from discussing my... private business in public, would you please Kalyn?"

"Oh right. Guys, Muldoon is the Imperial Security Force supervisor for this sector. He oversees all the homicide cases that are assigned to his precinct."

"Look," Vhetin said impatiently, "we don't mean to be any trouble. We're just here to poke around and take a look at the security footage."

"If you guys haven't screwed up the crime scene already," Ge'tal muttered. Jay elbowed him in the ribs and he fell silent.

"Of course," Muldoon said with a smile. He gestured to the small rectangular refueling post and said, "Follow me."

As he led them toward the post Vhetin asked, "What did your security forces find?"

"We were called in yesterday when Polstoria was reported missing. Naturally, we came in as quickly as we could. Polstoria is - _was_ \- one of our greatest assets."

"He was a mole inside Bloody Dawn," Vhetin guessed.

"Exactly, and he was an expert at evading Sekha's notice while giving us invaluable information about her business. Gave us a head's up every time she went on the warpath."

A depressed look flashed across his face and he quietly said, "Good man. Damn shame he's dead."

"Anything unusual about the crime scene?" Ge'tal inquired. Vhetin had told him about his strange experience while using psychometry and the armored beings that had kidnapped Kestra. He was probably on the lookout for anything suspicious.

"Actually yes," Muldoon said, frowning. "The security footage you mentioned? There is none."

Shuk'orok howled and Jay said, "What? Come again?"

"You don't think we checked the cam footage?" Muldoon said. "The footage is fine up until twenty-two-hundred hours, where it all washes out into static. It stays that way for ten minutes, when it comes back just fine... showing Polstoria dead on the floor."

"Sounds like the work of our kidnappers," Jay murmured to Ge'tal. Vhetin turned his head toward them slightly, then focused on Muldoon again.

"We've picked up no footprints, no fingerprints, no ion residue from departing ships..." He shook his head and sighed, "It's like there was no one even here."

"If it's okay with you," Vhetin said, "I'd like to take a look at the crime scene myself."

He shook his head. "I don't really think that you're going to be able to find anything more than our security force has."

Vhetin narrowed his eyes behind his helmet and said, "Let me be the judge of that."

~~~~~~~~

It was raining again when Vhetin closed the door behind him ten minutes later, letting out a quiet sigh as he did.

"Well?" Jay asked him. "What did you find?"

"I wasn't attacked when I used psychometry," he murmured, "so it's a start."

"What about Polstoria?" Ge'tal asked.

Vhetin shook his head. "It was definitely our armored assassins."

Jay leaned past him and peeked through the door. She paused when she saw a deep pool of blood that spread across the entire room. She turned away, deciding it was probably better not to know.

"So now what?" Ge'tal asked. "Did you manage to find out where these guys came from?"

"No," Vhetin said. "The armored man didn't talk much. All I was able to find out is that he referred to himself as a 'Stalker'."

"Doesn't sound good," Ge'tal said as they headed back to Kalyn and Muldoon. "What do you think it means?"

"I think it means we have to be extra careful," he said. "Based on what we know already, I'm guessing these guys are specialist assassins."

Jay noticed that most of the ISF speeders and shocktrooper guards had disappeared, and Muldoon was talking into his comlink as they approached.

"No, I don't care about the paperwork," he was saying. "I want this case closed. I don't care if you have to pull every detective in the precinct!"

"He seems strangely invested in his job," Jay observed quietly. "For a crime lord, I mean."

"Don't let your stereotypes give you the wrong impression about Muldoon," Kalyn said. "He loves his job as a supervisor. He just used his position in the Bostoni crime family to get him the job in the first place."

"Does the ISF have any clue who these assassins are?" Vhetin asked. "They have to have some guess."

"Their best guess is black-ops mercenaries based out of Uba Four," Kalyn said. "That would correspond with Vhetin's claim that their armor looked like a mix of Ubese designs."

"That makes sense... I guess," Jay frowned and nodded, staring distractedly at a point behind Kalyn's shoulder. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw...

Ge'tal noticed her gaze and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking it gently. "Hey," he said. "You all right? You looked like you were about to fall asleep on us."

"Huh?" She shook her head, then rubbed her eyes and said, "Oh, uh... nothing. I just thought I saw something."

"What?" Vhetin said, turning his gaze slowly toward her.

"Nothing," she said. "Just a heat wave."

He stared at her for a moment, then turned back to Muldoon. The supervisor deactivated the comlink and turned to them.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to escort you off the premises,” he said. “The local commissioner thinks that if there's any chance of the culprits returning to the scene of the crime, it would be best if there's a surveillance team waiting. He doesn't want civilians getting hurt."

"This crime scene is cold," Vhetin said. "The murder happened more than a week ago."

"Nevertheless," the supervisor sighed, "even I have my orders. If you'd follow me, I'll escort you to your-"

He was suddenly cut off as a glowing bar of scarlet light erupted from his chest. He stared at it with eyes wide in horror, then slumped to the ground as a dark figure melted out of thin air behind him.

"Vasi!" Kalyn cried, moving to catch the man as he fell. Another figure appeared in front of her and slashed his scarlet blade across her chest. She leaned back just in time and the blade just barely glanced against her chest plate.

"Stalkers! Down!" Vhetin shouted, pulling his saber pike from his backpack and igniting the blade.

Ge'tal put a hand on Jay's shoulder and shoved her to the ground, pulling his rifle from its sling over his shoulder. Jay got to her knees and pulled her pistol, firing rapidly at the assassin towering over Kalyn. The Stalker brought his saber up and batted the yellow bolts out of the air, sending them ricocheting off into the rain.

She let out a shout of frustration and said, "I can't hit him! He's too fast!"

Kalyn scrambled to her feet and pulled her own silver-plated pistol. She snapped her arms up and fired at the Stalker as well. He moved to block the shots, but in doing so lowered his guard. Jay's blaster shots hit him in the back, tearing through his armor and sending him sprawling face-first onto the duracrete.

Vhetin cursed loudly as he brought his saber pike up to block a vicious downstroke from another Stalker, driven onto his back by the force of the attack. He shoved the armored man away and planted his combat boot in his opponent's armored gut. Jay quickly picked him off with a well-placed shot to the chest. There were now only four assassins left.

Kalyn was busy dragging Muldoon's body out of the fighting area, while Ge'tal and Shuk'orok were pinned down behind a collection of fuel barrels by two of the Stalkers.

Jay instantly scrambled to her feet, pulling her short vibroblade from her boot and sprinting toward one of the armored men. She leaped onto his back, catching the Stalker in a tight headlock and putting her blade against his neck.

"Drop your weapon," she snapped.

But he didn't respond. Instead he pulled back and slammed the hilt of his saber into Jay's forehead. She lost her grip and fell onto her back. She scrambled back, trying frantically to get out of reach of the man's lightsaber.

He spun toward her and unleashed a storm of blue-white lightning from his hands. The lightning enveloped her, crackling up and down her limbs. Pure agony ripped through her body, making her arch her back and scream. She writhed on the ground as sparks popped and skittered across the ground.

Suddenly the pain stopped and she looked to see Vhetin standing in front of her, saber pike raised. The lightning was dancing along the bright blue blade of his lightsaber before disappearing into smoke.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted to her, taking a step forward.

She nodded and scrambled to her feet, staggering away as her muscles seized up and her jacket smoked. She leaned against the wall and gagged as the acrid tinge of burnt skin filled her nostrils.

Vhetin, meanwhile, took another labored step forward, sending the lightning flashing back toward the Stalker. The assassin let out an enraged roar as the lightning slowly rebounded up his own arms. The storm began to glow white-hot as the Stalker was turned into a conduit, with energy steadily flowing in and out of his body.

Then, with a tremendous explosion, the two were thrown apart with the force of a small grenade. The Stalker was thrown back into the fuel barrels, where Ge'tal and Shuk'orok quickly dispatched him. Vhetin went flying back into the wall, hitting about six feet up and bouncing off. He crumpled into a heap and didn't move again.

Seeing her partner's predicament, Jay quickly regained her bearings and sprinted toward him.

"Are you okay?" she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't reply.

One of the three remaining Stalkers noticed them and stepped forward, igniting a scarlet lightsaber. Jay snapped her pistol up and fired at him three times, but he deflected the shots easily.

She looked around for something, anything that could help her, and her gaze fell on Vhetin's fallen saber pike. As the Stalker drew closer, staring at her calmly through the T-slit visor of his helmet, she sprinted toward the weapon and scooped it up.

It was surprisingly light and weighted in the center to allow for faster maneuvering. She wrapped her fingers tightly around the black shaft and searched for the button to activate the lightsaber blade.

Too late: the Stalker broke into a run, raising his saber over his helmeted head and letting out a nightmarish war cry. Instinctively Jay brought the pike up, placing the shaft horizontally between herself and the glowing red blade.

The blade hit the pike shaft with a shower of sparks, and the Stalker pushed down with all his strength, trying to overpower her with sheer strength. She slowly began to relent under the assassin's superior strength.

 _Come on_... she thought in panic, her eyes raking over the saber pike for some kind of activation stud. _Come on! He turns this damn thing on somehow!_

She finally found it! A small red button near her left hand. She hit it with her thumb and the blue blade sprang to life with a _snap-hiss_.

The Stalker seemed surprised by the suddenly active blade, but pushed down against the staff even harder.

"Someone!" she shouted, straining as the red blade slowly descended toward her head. "I need help!"

She heard a muffled _whump whump whump_ , then the Stalker was slammed bodily off his feet by two meters of angry Wookiee. The man screamed as Shuk'orok tackled him around the waist, driving them both to the ground. The black-furred Wookiee rose over the assassin's limp form and slammed his huge fists into his chest. He pulled back and roared, then slammed his fists down again, crushing the Stalker's interlocking chest plates - and most of his chest.

Shuk'orok clambered to his feet and let out a roar. Then he lumbered over and helped Jay up as well.

"I'm fine," she said, leaning on the activated saber pike. "Thanks for helping me out."

He shook his head and barked, gesturing toward Ge'tal, who was single-handedly fending off the final two Stalkers with his twin pistols. A flurry of blaster bolts ricocheted off the two scarlet sabers, impacting into the walls and ceiling.

"I'll help him out," Jay said, getting the gist of what the Wookiee was telling her. "Just see if Vhetin's okay!"

Then she sprinted toward the two Stalkers, hefting Vhetin's saber pike between her hands. Ge'tal had been pressed back against the wall, firing frantically as the two assassins slowly approached regardless.

She snapped back her arm and brought the glowing blue blade across one Stalker's back, leaving a bright orange-white burn mark in his armor. The assassin screamed and crumpled to his knees, letting out a weak wheeze before twitching and going still.

The final Stalker halted, slowly lowering his lightsaber. Jay and Ge'tal penned him in. She leveled the lit saber pike at him and said, "Drop your weapon. Hands on your head."

He just stared at them.

Ge'tal brandished his rifle and shouted, "Now!"

The man deactivated his saber and stared at them. He hooked the weapon to his belt and snarled, "Your skills are impressive. No ordinary bounty hunters would be able to neutralize my Stalker team with such skill and efficiency."

"Um... thanks?" Jay glanced at Ge'tal, then said, "Where did you take Kestra?"

"My team may have been decimated," the man said, his voice echoing slightly within the confines of his helmet, "but I am no fool. You did not seriously believe it would be so easy to extract information from a Sith?"

"A Sith?" Ge'tal said. "The Sith are extinct. You're lying."

In the blink of an eye, the Stalker yanked his saber from his belt and ignited the blade.

"Does this say I'm lying?" he shouted. "Does _this_ say that the Sith are _extinct_?!"

"Don't," Jay said warningly, raising the blade of Vhetin's saber pike. "Put it down."

"You think this is over. But you do not understand the gravity of this situation."

His gaze roved between the two hunters, then he said, "Young Kestra will fall. The Dark Side is too powerful for a young girl to withstand. Far too powerful."

Then he simply disappeared.

Jay blinked and stared at the spot where he'd stood. One minute he'd been standing there in all his nightmarish splendor, then he'd simply melted away into thin air. She looked over to Ge'tal and said, "Did you just see that?"

He stared at the empty air in front of him through his helmet's T-visor, then leaned back and said, "I... I'm not sure what just happened. Maybe a... cloaking device?"

"For organics? Doesn't the radiation thrown off by those things make them too dangerous?"

"That guy didn't really look like he cared," Ge'tal sighed, slowly lowering his rifle. "It looked like he had a trace of that radiation poisoning already."

From behind them Shuk'orok howled, drawing their attention back to the present. Jay looked over her shoulder to see Vhetin slowly raising himself onto his hands and knees. Kalyn was kneeling next to Muldoon's body, slowly closing his eyes.

Jay knelt next to her partner, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

He nodded and coughed, holding a hand to his side. "Yeah. I... was unconscious there for a bit but I don't think there was any lasting damage. Is everyone else okay?"

"Muldoon is dead," Kalyn said, sniffing quietly as she drew closer. She brushed her soaked hair out of her face, then said, "But it looks like one of those Stalkers is still breathing."

"What?" Jay said, turning in the direction of her gaze. Sure enough, one of the Stalkers was crawling across the floor, groaning as he held one mechanical hand to the deep saber burn in his back.

She turned back to Vhetin and said, "You sure you're okay?"

He nodded, bracing a hand against the wall. "I'm fine. Just don't let him get away."

She nodded and handed him his saber pike. Then she jogged over to the Stalker and planted a boot in his back, drawing her pistol and aiming it at his helmeted head.

"Where are you going?" she asked him.

He groaned as she put more weight on the wound on his back, then spat, "You... you will never stop the Stalkers, bounty hunter filth."

She knelt next to him and put her knee between his shoulder blades. Once she was sure he wasn't going to pull anything, she pulled a pair of stun cuffs from her belt and locked his mechanical arms behind his back. She noticed with a slight shiver that there were half-foot razor blades sprouting from his durasteel fingers.

"Okay buddy," she said, hauling him to his feet, "we're going to have a little talk. And you're going to tell us exactly what you did with Kestra."


	8. Interrogations

**Imperial Mining Facility 32-B, Mustafar**

The durasteel door slid open with a hiss. Darth Draco pushed past the hulking guard and stepped toward Kestra's holding cell. With a snarl of rage he threw his arms out and let purple-white lightning explode from his fingertips.

Kestra threw her head back and screamed as the lightning coursed over her body, making her muscles twitch and spasm. Agony ripped through her body, her fingers twitching and clenching as she shrieked in pain. Draco shouted as well, adding his rasping voice to hers as he kept the storm flowing.

It was a long time before he let the lightning trail off. Kestra slumped against her restraints, whimpering as he snarled, "You have not been truthful with me, my young apprentice."

"I... don't know what... you're t-talking about," Kestra panted, smoke rising from her body.

Draco unleashed another torrent of Force Lightning before demanding, "Who is coming after you?"

"N-no one," she gasped. "No one... knows where I am."

" _You lie_!" he screamed, electrocuting her again. As she slumped against her invisible restraints a third time, he drew in a wheezing breath and snarled, "One of my lieutenants has sensed someone attempting to track you down. A man who possesses the ability of psychometry."

Kestra's gaze snapped up to look into Draco's faceplate. She squinted in confusion and whispered, “What did you just say?”

Another surge of electricity shot through her system, but this time she barely felt it. A man who could use psychometry was coming after her? There was only one person she knew with that ability.

 _Vhetin_ , she thought hopefully as the Force Lightning ebbed.

Draco stepped up to her and grabbed her face with a razor-bladed hand.

“Who is this man?” he snarled, moving her face side-to-side. When she said nothing, he whispered, "You can tell me, or I can rip it from your mind."

"No!" she gasped. The thought of Draco's dark presence slithering through her mind again was repulsive. The last thing she wanted was to experience that again. "Don't... don't do that."

"Then tell me what I want to know!" he shouted, backhanding her across the face and stepping back.

"He..." she sighed, flexing her hands and grimacing as it sent a fresh wave of pain through her tired body. "He's a bounty hunter. Cin Vhetin. I used to train with him."

"Why is he so intent upon rescuing you?" the Sith Lord demanded. "Tell me how he was able to destroy an _entire_ _team_ of my Stalkers!"

"I don't know!" she shouted as she felt his dark power draw closer to her mind. "I don't know. He's... he uses lightsabers. He's fast enough and strong enough to use them."

"A lightsaber-wielding being with no connection to the Force?" her guard boomed. "Preposterous. No normal being has the reflexes to use the weapon."

"Yeah, well he does!" she shouted. "I... he never told me how, and I never asked."

"Xenophon reported that he was helped by four others," Draco snarled, "a man, two women, and a Wookiee. _Who are they_?"

"I... Ge'tal and Shuk'orok," she gasped. "The man and the Wookiee. And I'm guessing one of the women is Vhetin's new partner. My... Underworld contacts told me that he joined up with some rookie merc out of Nar Shadda over six months ago."

"What about the other woman?"

"I don't know..." she sighed. "I don't know."

He stared at her for a long time, then quietly said, "I believe you."

Kestra slumped against her restraints in relief. Thank the Force that she'd caught this small break.

Suddenly, he whirled and unleashed another blast of Force Lightning, making her yell in pain again. When he tapered off the flow of electricity, he stared at her, then said, "Tell me about this Cin Vhetin."

She shook her head, hanging limply against her invisible restraints. "I can't... I-I can't."

"Then you resign yourself to your fate."

In a moment, she felt Draco's dark power explode into her mind. A bolt of pure agony seemed to split her head open but she barley had the strength to moan in anguish.

A memory was dragged to the surface, pulled from her subconscious by Draco's power. She tried to resist, but there was little she could do to stop him. She grimaced as the image of a windy fall day appeared in her mind's eye.

It was a day she remembered well: the day she had first met Vhetin, all those years ago.

 _Ranek had stood in the middle of the square outside the_ Oyu'baat _, a young Vhetin at her shoulder. He was wearing his old green-red trainee's armor and seemed nervous to be in such close proximity to Ranek without a projectile weapon. A ten-year-old Kestra had been led toward them by one of her guardians._

_Ranek's cold gaze fell on her almost immediately and she said, "Kestra. You're late."_

_She blushed and looked at the ground. "I apologize. I-"_

_"It's no matter," the older woman said dismissively. She gestured to Vhetin and said, "This is your new trainer. His name is Cin Vhetin."_

_He'd nodded his head in greeting. She'd shyly smiled and said, "Hi. My name is Kestra."_

_Ranek had glanced between them, then said, "I have other business to attend to. Vhetin will teach you until I return. From then on, you will have an hour-long training session with him every day before I teach you."_

_Kestra stared fearfully at the young Mandalorian, unsure of what to think about the older boy. Vhetin had glanced at the woman, as if this was the first time he was hearing about this as well._

_"Well?" Ranek had said. "Get to it."_

_Then she'd turned and walked away without another word. Vhetin had stared after her for a moment, then turned back to Kestra and said, "I guess... I guess we can head out to the Omotao farm. My mentor, Rame, has a sparring ring behind his house. We can use that for practice."_

_"Okay," she'd said quietly and followed him to a speeder parked nearby. He'd strapped himself into the seat behind the steering yoke and they'd taken off._

"Interesting..." Draco murmured. He spread his razor-bladed hand above Kestra's face and she felt the pain in her head intensify.

Memories flashed by; days, months, years, flashing through her mind with unbelievable speed before finally settling on a day when she was twelve and Vhetin, seventeen.

_"Motion Fifteen," Vhetin had shouted, raising the padded glove to chest level. "Set Eleven!"_

_Kestra's brow had furrowed in concentration. She'd tensed her muscles, then unleashed an amazingly fast flurry of kicks and punches. Vhetin had countered every move, catching every punch and kick in the padded gloves over his hands._

_"Good!" he'd said as they continued. "Good speed, good balance."_

_She'd broken through his defense and landed a blow to his ribs. He'd hopped back, cursing and holding his side. Then he'd looked up at her and growled, "You did that on purpose."_

_She grinned and said, "Of course. What's Ter_ _äs Käsi without a little improvisation?"_

_"Don't get cocky now," he'd said, straightening. "You may be getting better, but you still can't take me on."_

_"Why not?" she asked, continuing her set of combat moves. "Your almost-superhuman traits are no match for me."_

_"I thought members of Faberian royalty were supposed to be humble," Vhetin said, grunting slightly as he continued to block her attacks._ _“You seem to be the exception."_

_"A girl's gotta break with established trends at some point."_

_"Is that so?" Vhetin suddenly erupted into a blur of motion, lashing out with both his gloved hands and clapped them across Kestra's ears. She grimaced and shook her head as her ears rang loudly, lowering her guard for a split-second._

_It was a split-second that the Mandalorian exploited. He whirled and kicked at her legs, but she hopped over his boot and punched at his helmet. He dodged the blow easily and followed up with a brutal punch to her gut. She doubled over as he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her onto her back on the ground of the sparring ring._

_"Yield," he said, pinning her to the ground._

_"No," she gasped._

_"You never learned when to surrender," he said, tightening his grip. "_ Yield!"

_"No!" she cried, struggling against his iron grip. She wriggled out from under him as he relaxed his grip. He sighed and stood, brushing his gloves off._

_"One day," he said, "that's going to get you into trouble."_

_"What, just because I won't be stupid enough to stop fighting?"_

_He shook his helmeted head and said, "No. You just need to learn when to back down. You can't win all the time."_

_"Why not?" she asked._

_"No matter how strong you are," he said, putting his gloved hands on his hips, "there's always someone smarter or more powerful than you are."_

_"Not if-"_

_"No, you aren't listening," he pressed. "there are some times when you need to give in. When you need to lose in order to live to fight another day."_

_"I don't..." she'd frowned and relaxed from her combat stance. "That's not what I've been taught."_

_"Then you've been taught wrong."_

_"But it's better to die than to surrender!"_

_"There's a difference between being a coward and being someone who knows when she's beaten," he pointed out. "And one day, you'll be forced to learn that the hard way."_

"Yes," Draco murmured, "listen to your mentor. Do what you know is right. Give in to the Dark Side."

Ranek's voice now joined Vhetin's, scolding her and telling her that it was useless to resist.

_"The brave are always the first to die," she snapped, towering over Kestra. She was only around thirteen years old, but already a confident practitioner of Ter_ _äs Käsi. Ranek lashed out with a blinding sequence of brutal punches that Kestra struggled to deflect._

_"I'm not going to go through all this training," Kestra said through gritted teeth, "just to become a coward. I'm stronger than that."_

_"Then you are a fool," the older woman said, slapping Kestra across the face. "Any soldier knows when to retreat. Surrender is preferable to death."_

"Surrender is preferable to death," Draco echoed quietly.

"Don't..." Kestra gasped, feeling ice course through her veins. It felt as if she'd been plunged into a pool of arctic water, frozen to the core. Her heart was pounding in her ears as the memories continued to flash through her mind.

 _"Don't fool yourself into believing you are invincible,"_ _Ranek growled, snapping her fists out toward Kestra's chest. "Anyone can be defeated."_

_"You can't convince me to-"_

_Suddenly Ranek exploded into motion, leaping into a whirling double-kick that caught Kestra in the stomach and chest. The younger girl was thrown back against the wall of the sparring ring. She crumpled to the ground, wheezing as the wind was knocked out of her lungs._

_Ranek was right on top of her, punching and kicking her in the face and chest and snarling, "Give in!"_

"Give in!" Draco echoed. His voice was a strange amalgamation of his own gravely rasp and Ranek's cold murmur.

"No!" Kestra shouted, both in the memory and in real life.

" _Give in!"_ repeated Ranek/Draco. Kestra screamed as pain ripped through her mind. " _You are defeated! Surrender or die!"_

"No!" Kestra screamed, jerking away from Draco and forcing his presence from her mind. " _Leave_ _me_ _alone_!"

A blue-white explosion erupted from her body, sending the two Sith Stalkers flying back against the walls. She threw her head back and screamed as the Force flowed through her, making her electro-shock restraints sputter and sending sparks skittering across the floor.

As the storm subsided, Kestra slumped against her restraints, barely conscious. Draco groaned as he slowly clambered back to his feet, staring at Kestra with wonder.

"What was that?" her guard grumbled as he straightened as well, putting a hand on the wall to steady himself.

"Force Repulse," Draco murmured, stepping toward Kestra cautiously. "Amazing... that an adept would be so powerful."

He stared at Kestra, for once remaining a safe distance away from her. His dark gaze studied every minute detail of her face. Her eyelids fluttered open, and he chuckled at what he saw.

"You and I are going to do great things," he murmured as he stared into her suddenly yellow-tinged eyes. "Together, we will shape the very course of the galaxy... my apprentice."

He stared at her for a moment more, then turned to her guard and said, “This bounty hunter will find us soon. Send out the word: we’re leaving.”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

**Polstoria's Post, Bostoni Sector, Imperial City, the next day**

 

Vhetin stood in the center of the room, arms folded across his chest as the surviving Sith Stalker raged and pulled at his stun cuffs. The assassin was bound with electro-shock restraints and was chained to a post in the center of the floor.

"Are you ready to talk yet?" he asked.

The man let out a shout and threw himself at Vhetin, his restraint chain snapping taught as he did. The bounty hunter didn't even flinch as the Stalker's helmet stopped only centimeters from his own.

"You don't know the power of the Dark Side," the Stalker snarled. "And you will writhe in torment for all eternity as its power corrupts your mind."

Kalyn sighed, leaning against the wall behind Vhetin and folding her arms across her chest. "Give it up, Vhetin. This guy isn't going to tell you anything. The Zealots of Psusan spouted less mystical babble than him."

"I don't care," Vhetin said, watching as the Stalker backed away and leaped up onto the ceiling, crawling along the surface with his bare hands. "He knows where Kestra is. I'm not stopping until I find her."

Farnmir sighed and inspected her fingernails nonchalantly as the Stalker leveled one hand and tried to throw Force Lightning in her direction. The electro-shock restraints sensed his sudden change in heart rate and sent a surge of electricity through his system. He writhed and lost his grip on the flat ceiling, hitting the ground hard. He let out an echoing scream and scrambled away into a corner.

Seeing an opening, Vhetin stepped forward and grabbed his captive's throat. He pulled the armored assassin up until they were facemask-to-facemask.

"You know what happened to Kestra," he growled. "Tell me where she is."

The Stalker shook his helmet and said, "I would never betray my Lord Draco by revealing her location. I would rather-"

"Tell me!" he shouted, drawing his pistol and pressing it under the man's chin.

The Stalker let out an unhealthy-sounding laugh and said, "I am not afraid of death or pain. Do your worst."

"As I said," Farnmir sighed, "he's not going to talk. You'll have to torture him for weeks to get anything out of him."

Vhetin shook his head in disgust and stood, holstering his pistol. He stared at the Stalker with loathing and thought, _this is the only guy who knows where Kestra is. I have to get him to talk somehow._

Suddenly, he frowned in curiosity and stared at the captive assassin.

"Maybe not," he said quietly.

"What?" Kalyn said, frowning at him.

Vhetin knelt in front of the Stalker again and slowly pulled off his glove. The helmeted man stared at him, then said, "What are you going to do?"

He punched the assassin in the gut, then ripped off his helmet. He heard Farnmir gasp slightly as the man's face was revealed; a pale mass of tattoos and scar tissue. His nose had been broken several times over the course of his life, and a good deal of his bare jawbone could be seen through carved-out skin on his chin. Two vertical stripe tattoos ran up the center of his bald head before melting into the mass of other tattoos that adorned his head.

He coughed and looked at Vhetin with blazing yellow eyes. "You dare to remove the helmet of a Sith Stalk-"

His voice was cut off as Vhetin grabbed the man's head, pressing his palm against the Stalker's cold, clammy forehead. The man's red-tinged eyes went wide as Vhetin closed his own and concentrated. A scream echoed through the room as he plunged into the captive’s mind, sifting through his memories. He couldn’t be sure if the scream was the Stalker’s voice or his own.

The flickering image of the interior of a starship flashed into his mind’s eye.

_He saw five other Stalker assassins, gathered with him around the ship_ _’s holoprojector. Another armored form was projected life-size into mid-air. He was of medium height and wore what looked like an up-armored variant of the typical Stalker gear, with a ribbed black life suit, leather gloves, and armor flaps across the cheekplates of his helmet._

_“Have you found them?” the new man inquired. “Have you killed the bounty hunters?”_

_“Not yet, my lord,” said the leader of the Stalker team. Vhetin’s new memories classified him as Xenophon. “But we are drawing closer. The female gangstress gave them the location of the refueling post where we discovered the location of the girl. They are en route.”_

_“Good,” said the holographic Stalker. “Deal with them, then return to us. Our forces are still incredibly weak. We need every Stalker able to wield a saber.”_

_Xeonophon bowed his head and said,_ _“As is thy bidding, my lord Draco.”_

Draco? That was the name of the man who’d taken Kestra, the so-called “leader” of the Stalkers. Interesting, but not enough to continue the hunt. He needed the name or coordinates of a planet. He grimaced and dug deeper. The next memory he was able to pull to the surface looked more promising.

_He saw Xenophon standing behind Darth Draco. The air shimmered between them as heat waves rose from a durasteel floor. He heard distant explosions as red-hot magma erupted from a molten river that flowed below the facility._

_“What is thy bidding, my master?” Xenophon asked._

_Draco stood with his back turned to them, surveying the scorched landscape beyond the facility. His helmeted head turned from side to side slightly, and his taloned hands were hooked behind his back. After several moments of silence, he half-turned to the assembled assassins and said,_ _“You heard Tillipi’s report?”_

_“We did, my lord.”_

_“Then find this man, track him down,” Draco said, “find out what he knows. If he is a bumbling idiot, leave him to his wanderings. If he is a threat…”_

_He paused, then turned fully toward the landscape again and finished,_ _“Eliminate him.”_

_Xenophon bowed and said,_ _“It will be done, my lord.”_

_He gestured and the six Stalkers turned and melted into mid-air. Vhetin watched through his captive_ _’s eyes as the other assassins shimmered like the heat waves rising off the ground, their bodies slowly becoming translucent before fading away entirely. He was dimly aware of his own body doing the same._

_He walked for several silent minutes until he saw the five others waiting for him on a nearby landing pad. An old Imperial shuttle was resting there on stumpy landing legs._

_Interestingly, there were also several alien species present, scurrying about the landing pad and hauling cargo onto the shuttle. The tall ones wore heavy-duty fireskirts that shielded them from the falling ash and magma while the shorter, squatter ones were outfitted with heat-resistant armor. They had dangling, tube-like trunks and heavy helmets to protect themselves from the rain of fire._

_"Lord Draco commands us to leave," Xenophon told the workers. "Load the cargo on the shuttle and prepare for our departure."_

_One of the skinny creatures responded with a series of growling clicks and grunts, bobbing its head up and down in submission. It then gestured to the other aliens and barked orders in the same guttural tongue._

The aliens; they were the key. With effort, Vhetin pulled his mind away from the Stalker's memories, struggling to pull his hand away from the captive man's forehead. He succeeded with effort and emerged back into the real world. It was a calming sensation, as if coming up from underwater and taking a gasping, life-bringing breath.

"Well?" Kalyn asked, staring at him. Vhetin glanced at his HUD's chronometer and saw that almost five minutes had passed.

He rose to his feet, wiping off his suddenly sweaty hands and pulling his glove back on. He stared at the Stalker, who was cowering in the corner, hands over his head.

"He didn't stop screaming the whole time you were..." She hesitated, then said, "doing whatever it was you were doing."

He nodded and turned his back to her. He pulled his helmet off and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, taking a deep breath of the room's cool air.

"Psychometry," was all he told Farnmir as he secured his helmet back over his head.

"Oh," she said, not sounding surprised in the least. "Well, were you able to see anything?"

He turned back to her and nodded. "I think so."


	9. To Mustafar

**Freelance Transport** **_Void_ ** **, Torrenz' Imperial City Spaceport Dock**

Jay smiled as she held her datapad in her hands, watching a new interview between a holonews team and her eighteen-year-old little sister. She was sitting at the desk in her borrowed quarters, the overhead hololamp shedding blue-green light over the area.

The datapad had been given to her by Vhetin during a housewarming party a few weeks before. The tech pad was programmed to automatically scan the Holonet and download any information regarding her family.

Jay had never been overly close to her parents or her many brothers and sisters, but she and her little sister Arian had been almost inseparable. These interviews with her sister, who was an up-and-coming lawyer, were a great comfort, especially when involved in such a stressful contract.

"So, Miss Kolta," said the Torgruta interviewer, "you were recently involved in a case regarding the Senator Intesiima Scandal. You almost single-handedly turned the case around and proved that the Senator was indeed innocent of fraud."

"I just want to interject here," her little sister said as she brushed a strand of dark hair out of her eyes, "and say that I did not 'single-handedly' prove him innocent. I had a great team of investigators working with me, not to mention my mentor, who was there to help me every step of the way."

Jay paused the recording and sat back in the chair, smiling to herself. Arian was still the ever-modest one. She was very humble, and it was almost impossible for her to take responsibility for any of her successes without acknowledging someone else.

"Cute," came a voice from the doorway. "Cousin?"

Jay turned her head and saw Ge'tal leaning against the doorframe. He had his helmet clipped to his belt and his black hair seemed even messier than ever.

She turned back to the recording and said, "Little sister, actually. Where's Shuk'orok?"

"Up in the cockpit, fiddling with the controls again," he said. He gestured to the threshold of the door. "Can I come in?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Something up?"

"Just waiting for Vhetin to get back," he said, shrugging. "I don't know why he had to go out there on his own; that Sith guy can’t be that tough to crack, can he?”

Jay let out a short laugh. "The guy was crawling along the walls with his bare hands. I think anything’s possible with him. Besides, Vhetin won't be alone: Kalyn is guarding the prisoner, whatever the hell he is."

“He’s kind of odd, isn’t he?”

“His arms were made out of razor blades,” she pointed out.

“I meant Vhetin.”

She hesitated, then said, “Oh. Yeah, I guess so.”

“What’s his problem?” he asked. “I mean, he's not exactly your typical Mandalorian. Hell, he isn’t your typical _human_.”

“I think... I think he’s just had a hard life,” she said, shrugging. “And he finds it hard to trust people any more.”

“He keeps you around,” Ge’tal pointed out. “That’s got to count for something.”

“Are you saying I’m untrustworthy?”

“ _Shab_ no. I’m just saying that he could have teamed up with his _cyar_ _’ika_ to hunt, or another Mandalorian. The fact that he chose you is... I don’t know. Special somehow.”

“He has his reasons for everything he does,” she said slowly. “He’ll share those reasons if and when he feels like it, no sooner.”

"What about you?" he asked, cocking his head to one side slightly. "Where do you fit in to this whole badass bounty hunter universe?"

"I wouldn't consider myself among the 'badasses' of this job," Jay said with a smile. "Its just a job to me. And a way to... ease my conscience as it were."

"How so?" he asked, cocking his head.

She shrugged and turned to face him. She stood and leaned against the desk, folding her arms. She stared at him, then sighed and said, "The Imperials... they took everything I had and blamed me for the loss. I decided to become a bounty hunter so that I could pay back people like the ones who ruined my life."

He stepped closer, looking sympathetic. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard."

She laughed. "I spent three months in a maximum-security prison. Of course it was. But I'm still here."

"Yes you are," he said with a smile. He took another step forward, until he was less than a foot away. "And you don't look too worse for wear."

She suddenly remembered Vhetin's earlier warning about Ge'tal: _he's left a steady trail of broken hearts throughout the galaxy from Nar Shadda to Tatooine. You would do well not to trust a single word that comes out of his mouth._

She reached out and put a hand on his chest, feeling the cool metal armor plate beneath her palm. "Ge'tal," she said quietly. "I... I think you should leave."

He frowned. "Why? You think-”

“I think you’re a very... handsome, charming man,” she said quietly. “But-”

“Vhetin got to you, didn’t he?” he sighed, looking frustrated. “Told you all about ‘Ge’tal’s Wild Life’ and now you don’t trust me, right?”

“That’s not the point,” Jay said, uncomfortably aware of the fact that her hand was still on his chest. She looked down at her feet and blushed deeply as she said, “I just don’t want to be another girl you spent the night with whose name you don’t even remember. Even if I had time for someone else in my life... I‘d want something deeper than that.”

“Hey,” he said, touching her cheek gently and moving her face up to look him in the eyes again. She was aware of how close they were, could feel his breath on her lips, and she realized her heart was suddenly pounding.

He smiled and said, “I don't think I could ever forget you. No matter how hard I tried.”

Then he leaned forward and kissed her. She gasped slightly in surprise and put her hands on his shoulders in a half-hearted effort to push him away. He wasn't discouraged, and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her harder.

Surprised, she found herself relaxing against him and kissing him back. She couldn’t explain it, but a part of her needed him, needed his strength and self-confidence. This entire mission had her uneasy, tense, and scared, and she needed someone to reach out to. Force knew Vhetin was a lost cause from the start, she couldn’t understand Shuk’orok, and Kalyn wasn’t exactly the type Jay could pour her heart out to.

But Ge’tal... he was charming and confident and he always knew what to say to ease her worries. And that was exactly what she needed right now. So she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him harder, letting out a quiet sigh as she pressed herself close to him.

It had been so long since she’d felt these feelings rushing through her heart. The heady emotions took her back to a happier time, before the Empire's betrayal, before her incarceration, before this new, dark world of bounty hunters and Sith Lords and friends being kidnapped...

 _Wait a minute_ , she suddenly thought. _No. This... this isn_ _’t right. How does this help me? How does this help_ Kestra _?_

She was just scared, and was reaching out to whoever was nearest. Ge’tal was doing the same thing, and she mistook that for some kind of connection between the two of them. She couldn’t let this go on; they were both making a mistake.

“Ge’tal,” she said when he pulled back for a moment. But he kissed her again and cut her off before she could continue. He slowly maneuvered them over to the cot in the corner and they fell down on top of it, him on top of her.

“Ge’tal,” she whispered as he propped himself up on his arms above her to avoid crushing her from the weight of his armor. “I don’t think-”

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he ran his hands up her sides and kissed her neck. She squirmed slightly in discomfort. When he didn’t stop, only continued to kiss her and run his hands over her body, she thought, _I have to stop this before it gets seriously out of hand._

Moments later, Ge’tal froze as he felt the cold metal of her pistol barrel pressed under his chin.

“Ge’tal?” she asked quietly.

His eyes were wide as he looked down at her pistol, pressed up against his jaw. “Yeah?”

“Get off of me.”

He slowly did, raising his hands in surrender as he stepped back. Jay got off the bed and smoothed out her disheveled clothing. She glanced at him and sighed.

“Put your arms down, idiot. I’m not going to shoot you.”

He slowly did and she said, “When Vhetin gets back, I’m going to pretend that this didn’t happen.”

“Okay. Good. Great,” he said, nodding emphatically.

“But you try and get me into bed again,” she added, patting her pistol, “and I _will_ shoot you. Preferably in a place that isn’t fatal, but will hurt really, _really_ bad.”

Ge’tal glanced down at his belt, paled slightly, then said, “Sure. Okay.”

He slowly backed out of the room, his eyes never leaving the hand hovering near her gun holster. He hesitated at the door, then said, “You know, I really do like you.”

She leaned against the doorframe and said, “And I like you. But that’s as _far as it goes_. Got it?”

He nodded and she smiled and stepped back. “Good-bye, then.”

“But-”

“ _Bye_ ,” she repeated, then hit the door controls. The mechanized door slid shut with a hiss, slamming an inch-thick barrier of durasteel between them. She sighed quietly to herself and turned back to her desk.

~~~~~~~~

Vhetin and Farnmir strode up _Void_ 's landing ramp and headed immediately for the cockpit.

"I don't know the aliens off the top of my head," Vhetin said as they walked, "but I'm sure I'd be able to identify them if I saw them again."

"Can you think of any species they looked similar to?"

He narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "Um... yeah. Kind of reminiscent of Kubaz, I guess. Similar build, a kind of similar proboscis."

"Well we can check through the ship database," she said, "see if we can't track these aliens down."

They stepped into the cockpit, nudged Shuk'orok out of the pilot's seat, and Vhetin booted up _Void_ 's Holonet database. Vhetin input the rough characteristics of the aliens he was looking for, then sat back as he waited for the search to complete itself. As he did, he activated the ship’s auto-pilot, letting the ship lift off from the landing pad and streak off into space. After only a few minutes, they were in open space.

"Did you manage to see Kestra?" Kalyn asked. "You know, when you were doing your thing with the Stalker."

He shook his head. "No. But the fact that they tried to kill us means she's still alive."

"How do you know?"

He stared at her. "They're trying to cover their tracks. Keep us from getting too close to finding their captive."

"Don't get your hopes up, Stripes." she sighed, shook her hair out of her face, then put her hands behind her head and propped her feet up on the control console. Shuk'orok howled as her heels landed dangerously close to the ship's self-destruct activation pad. She just threw a glare his way, then settled deeper in the seat and closed her eyes.

"Terians... Zakaritons... Floristos..." Vhetin shook his head. "None of these are right."

"What about setting?"

He glanced at Farnmir. "What?"

"Setting," she said, opening one eye. "You know, the area where these aliens were running around. Were there trees, rocks, oceans, what?"

"Oh... um, there was lava. Lots of magma and ash in the air."

She nodded toward the monitor in front of him and said, "Then narrow your search parameters. See if that pulls up anything you recognize."

He stared at her for a moment, then turned back and did as she suggested. The monitor displayed a message saying _PLEASE WAIT... SEARCHING._ Then a much smaller list appeared; less than fifteen matches.

"Okay," he said, settling himself more comfortably into the seat and rubbing his hands together. "This is more like it."

"What does it say?"

"We've got... Kortatians... Sporens... Carmenians... Mustafarians..."

He did a double-take as the image of the alien species popped up on the monitor. Then he clapped his hands and said, "There! Mustafarians!"

Kalyn swung her legs down from the control panel and looked over his shoulder. She squinted at the monitor, quickly scanning through the HoloNet report. "Operate out of a small planet called Mustafar in the outer rim, huh? That sounds like where your creepy vision took place."

"It's a good bet," he muttered. "Even if it's not, it would be worth our time to check it out. Even if it wasn't Mustafar, this report says that the natives don't travel much off their planet, so we should be able to track those few I saw."

She grinned and sat back. "Let's head out then."

Vhetin hit the intership comm button and said, "Jay, get up here to the cockpit. We've got a lead."

She appeared in the doorway only moments later, slightly out of breath. She took a hesitant step inside, probably unsure of whether Vhetin was still angry with her. He was, but there were more important things to focus on at the moment.

"What's going on?" she said, straightening her jacket self-consciously.

He glanced at her and frowned behind his helmet. Her movements were quick, erratic, and his HUD scanner systems showed that her heart was racing as if she had just run a marathon. Or was extremely nervous about something.

"Something wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow that he knew she couldn't see.

Her gaze snapped to him and she shook her head quickly. "No. Nothing."

He could swear she was blushing, but... whatever was wrong was probably none of his business. So he turned back to the monitor and tapped the picture of the Mustafarian.

"I recognized the aliens I saw in a psychometry reading off our captive," he said. "They live on Mustafar, so that's where we're heading next."

"Great," she said, sounding relieved. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Head back to the armory and start prepping all the shredder rounds you can find," he said. "And make sure to pack as many as you can stuff into supply packs."

"Shredder rounds?" she echoed. "Those could put a foot-wide hole through a bantha."

"We barely survived attack by a small force of Stalkers," he said. "And wherever that strike team came from, there are more Stalkers dug into a defensible position. We need all the firepower we can get."

"How many shredder rounds do you have?"

"Quite a few," he said. "You might get Ge'tal to help you."

"Oh... I'm sure I can take care of it myself," she said quickly, blushing deeper. "I... I think he's resting. I wouldn't want to disturb him."

"If you think you can handle it," he said, shrugging. "Just be cautious; we're going to jump to lightspeed in a few moments, so be sure to brace yourself."

She nodded and quickly left the cockpit. Kalyn craned her neck to watch her, then chuckled quietly and settled herself into the copilot's seat once more.

He glanced at her, hesitated, then said, "What are you finding so funny?"

"What," she said, "you don't see it? Are you blind?"

"See what?"

"Your partner is very interested in your red-armored friend. She's trying to hide it, but... well, as you can see-"

"That's none of my business," he said calmly. "And it's none of your business either."

"Come on," she said, "don't tell me you haven't noticed it too. You can't be _that_ stupid."

"I have enough problems with my own relationships without worrying about those of my partner," he said.

"Yeah," she said, "I know all about you and that Bellan girl. Your 'relationship problems' didn't seem to stop you from bringing Jolee Uruc down."

"Things have gotten worse since then," he said. "And I'm not sure-"

He suddenly snapped his head up toward her and narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute. I'm not talking to you about this. You're just fishing for info, like you were when you downloaded my bounty database."

"I'm good at milking info from my targets," she said, shrugging. "It's a gift."

"But there's a sure-fire way to stop you." He leaned toward her and said, " _Shut up_."

She laughed to herself and closed her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to get some shut-eye before we get to Mustafar. Try to keep the noise to a minimum, will you?"

Staring at her, Vhetin couldn't tell if she was just arrogant or subtly trying to take the reins of this contract. He wouldn't be surprised by either option, as she was one of the most dangerous bounty hunters he’d ever met and she knew that.

As for Jay, he believed what he'd said; her budding affection for Ge'tal was none of his business. His struggling relationship with Bri was proof that he needed to keep out of situations like that. He was no good at things like that, he knew it.

“Whatever. Prepare for lightspeed,” he said, then grasped the initiation lever.

Kalyn opened an eye and said, “What about your captive? That Stalker guy?”

Vhetin narrowed his eyes. That man was responsible for Kestra’s kidnapping, subservient to the man who’d dragged him across half the damned galaxy searching for her.

“Leave him,” he said. “Let him starve to death. Its more than he deserves.”

Then he pushed the lever forward. He was pushed back against his seat by the force of the ship’s acceleration, then space outside the viewport blurred before morphing into the spinning blue-white tunnel of hyperspace.

He narrowed his eyes and sat back in his seat. After a moment he stood and left the cockpit, but not after making sure the ship’s computers were code-locked and the firewalls were working at peak efficiency. Again, Farnmir was one of the most dangerous hunters this side of the Outer Rim, and he wasn’t going to let her get another chance to download his private computer files.

He’d feel safer if it was Boba Fett or Durge sitting there in the cockpit.


	10. Tempers Flare

**Ten hours later, Imperial Mining Post 32-B, Mustafar**

Jay followed Vhetin and Shuk’orok down the exit ramp of _Void_ , into the scorching heat of Mustafar. She grimaced slightly as a wave of heat hit her in the face, making her eyes water.

“Wow,” she said, squinting and shielding her eyes as still-flaming ash rained down from the smoky sky. “This is… ahem, this is certainly a change from rainy Coruscant.”

“I can’t tell if it’s a good change or a bad one, though,” Ge’tal said as he strode down the ramp as well, helmet tucked under his arm. He suddenly broke out in coughs and gagged out, “Damn, I think I just inhaled a piece of ash.”

“Get used to it,” Vhetin said. “Kestra’s down here somewhere, and we’re going to stay until we find her.”

“And you’re sure this is the right place?” Jay asked. “For all we know, she could be on the other side of the planet.”

“I saw this mining facility,” he replied evenly. “I know we’re in the right place.”

“Scanners are showing no life-forms in the area,” came Kalyn’s voice over the comlink. “Even if she was here, whoever took her cleared out a while ago. Probably never heard back from that assassin team we took on and got spooked.”

“It’s still worth looking around,” he said, hooking his thumbs into his belt and looking around. His scanners confirmed what Kalyn had reported. There were no life forms in the mining facility.

He flexed his gloved hands into fists and cursed quietly. Whoever this Draco guy was, he seemed to be a step ahead of them every step of the hunt. Then again, that tended to happen when a hunter went after Force-sensitives. They were able to predict things before they happened, and that was enough to send a hunter into a deathtrap.

“Be careful,” he said as they set off. “Deserted or not, this is enemy territory. Keep in constant comm contact, don’t wander off. These Sith guys are able to do things you can’t even imagine.”

He gestured to the facility with an age-old military hand signal and said, “Jay, you’re with Ge’tal. Kalyn, head out with Shuk’orok.”

“What about you?” Jay asked, drawing her pistol and checking the charge. “You just said for no one to head off alone.”

Vhetin unclipped a lightsaber from his belt and activated the blue blade. “I can handle myself.”

“Right,” Jay said, sounding unconvinced.

“Look,” he sighed, turning to her, “I’ve worked around Force-sensitives before. I know what I’m getting into. You guys just be careful; I’ll comm you if I run into any trouble, I swear.”

Jay still didn’t look convinced, but she slowly nodded and said, “Fine. Just be careful. You’ve still got a lot to teach me, and you’re no good to me dead.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, then strode toward a decontamination room and stepped inside. He turned back to his small team at the door and said, “Meet up here again in fifteen minutes. Anyone falls out of contact, and I’m going to be _very_ angry.”

Then he turned and hit the opening stud. The door slid open with a hiss and he disappeared inside the facility.

The air was cool inside. He could feel it even through his armor’s environment suit. He couldn’t explain it, but the air was very close inside the facility, like the quiet before a thunderstorm. His heart was pumping and adrenaline flooded his system as the decon room let out a loud hiss and blasted his body with high-powered air streams.

He deactivated his saber and hooked it back to his belt, pulling his Imperial issue DC-17. He clicked the rifle light on as the decon room’s door slid open again and he murmured into his comlink, “Okay. I’m heading into the facility now.”

“This is Farnmir and Shuk’orok,” came Kalyn’s voice. “The three rooms along the D-6 hallway are clear.”

“Same with the V-9 hall,” came Ge’tal’s voice. “We’re heading on to… what looks like the mechanic‘s workshop. There‘s a lot of dried oil on the floor, but no sign of anything bad.”

Vhetin crept down the hall in a crouch, cautious of any surprises. He clicked on the rifle’s light and slowly opened the first door of the hall. It was full of mining equipment and environment suits similar to the kind Vhetin himself was wearing under his armor. The other three rooms down the hall were the same.

“Hall C-12 is clear,” he murmured, “I’m moving on.”

He got a burst of static in response. He clicked the comm once and said, “Guys, report back. Was that any of you?”

“Not me,” said Jay.

“Negative Vhetin,” Kalyn reported. “Radio silence on my end.”

“Then who sent out the static burst?”

“Don’t know,” came Kalyn’s voice. “Maybe interference from mining equipment. Maybe there was an electrical surge from the station’s heat receptors. These magma-mining facilities draw heat from the surrounding environment to power the different facility systems.”

“I don’t know,” Jay murmured. “There’s no power in our section of the facility.”

Vhetin lowered his rifle and hit a light switch on a nearby wall. Nothing happened. He quickly shouldered the rifle again and said, “Same here.”

“Same,” Kalyn confirmed as Shuk’orok howled in the background.

“So much for that theory,” Ge’tal muttered.

"Just stay cautious," Kalyn whispered, "keep your fingers on your triggers, and we'll all get out of this."

Ten tense minutes passed, with no sign of movement. They had almost the entire facility cleared with no problems. Vhetin was still suspicious of the seemingly empty facility, but he wasn't going to complain if they didn't run across hostile contacts.

"Hall C-8 is clear," he reported. "I'm moving on."

He slowly made his way around the corner, then hit the opening stud for the nearest door and slipped inside. He quickly cleared the room, looking around shipping crates and behind a large piece of stationary equipment along one wall. He was about to leave the room when he noticed something.

"What the..." he murmured, unaware that his comlink was still on.

"What?" Jay immediately asked. "What did you find?"

He didn't answer, instead stepping up to the machine mounted along the wall. He knelt in front of the machine and traced his fingers over the slightly curved dark blue metal. A logo on the side read _Czerka Corporation Bars-Free Holding Cell_. He clicked the activation switch forward, but like the rest of the facility, the machine had no power.

It was an electro-force holding cell, a machine that utilized a mix of repulsors and electric shocks to simultaneously confine and subdue a captive. It was utilized predominantly by prisons and milita groups for holding prisoners. But research during the days of the Old Republic showed that the holding cells had a secondary use, as electric shocks were known to dull a Jedi's connection to the Force. Since then, they'd primarily been used as restraints for Force-sensitives.

 _So,_ he thought, looking around the room, _this is where they held her._

He booted up his scanners, looking for trace remnants of blood. The scan came back negative, which was a small consolation; if there was no blood, that meant Kestra hadn't been killed. She was still alive.

He sat down on a nearby crate, overwhelmed by relief.

"Vhetin? Are you there?"

He let out a long sigh and said, "Yeah, Jay. I'm here."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing," he said. "I found Kestra's cell. She's gone, but there's no sign that she was hurt."

"Oh... Okay, stay there," she said, "We're going to finish clearing our sector of the base, then we're heading to your location."

"I'll be here," he sighed. Then he pulled his helmet off, set it on the crate next to him, and — despite his attempts to stop himself — grinned.

~~~~~~~~

"This is where they kept her?" Jay asked, looking around the room. Her gaze fell on the holding cell and she frowned. "So why would they need such fancy hardware to keep a fourteen-year-old girl restrained?"

"Kestra's no ordinary fourteen-year-old," Vhetin said quietly, studying the machine. He'd taken out a side panel and was tinkering with the internal electronics, trying to figure out what had shorted it out.

"What do you mean?" Kalyn said, frowning at him.

He hesitated, as if he suddenly realized he hadn't meant to say that. Then he shrugged and went back to work, muttering, "Nothing. It's nothing."

"It didn't sound like nothing," Jay said to him, folding her arms. "What do you mean?"

"Vhetin," Ge'tal said slowly, "I think now is the best time to tell them."

"Tell us what?" Jay said, feeling a hollow feeling in her stomach. Something about Ge'tal's guilty expression told her that whatever was going to be said wasn't going to be good.

Vhetin paused in his work, then sighed and sat back. He stared at the machine for a moment, then murmured, "I wasn't... completely honest when I was briefing you about Kestra's disappearance."

"What do you mean? She's... not missing?"

"What?" Ge'tal frowned. "No. Not that."

"Kestra is Force-Sensitive," Vhetin murmured, sounding as if he was trying to get the words out before they caught in his throat. He kept his gaze fixed on the wires protruding from the force cage in front of him, as if he were afraid to look Jay in the eye.

He probably had more to fear from Kalyn. She was staring at him furiously, hands clenched into fists at his side. She narrowed her green eyes, then whispered, " _What_?"

"She's Force-Sensitive," Vhetin said, his voice tense. "She can use the Force. Not as well as a Jedi or Sith, but..."

"And when exactly were you going to tell _me_ that?!" the huntress shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. She didn't wait for an answer, instead turning toward the door and running a hand through her hair and muttering, "Fierfek. Fierfek, fierfek, _fierfek_!"

"Kalyn," Jay began, stepping closer to her, stopping at Ge'tal's shoulder. "I'm sure they have a good reason for-"

"Do you have any idea how serious the punishment is for even _interacting_ with Force-Sensitives? Do you know what the Imperials will _do_ to us if they find this out?" The woman whirled, drawing her pistol and aiming it at Ge'tal's head.

"Give me one good reason not to shoot you right now," she whispered, her hand tightening on the firing stud.

Jay stepped in front of the Mandalorian and said, "Kalyn, calm down. This doesn't help anything."

Farnmir stared at them, then lowered the blaster, her eyes blazing. Jay let out a long breath she didn’t know she was holding. She frowned slightly and looked down to find that she had unconsciously clasped Ge’tal’s gloved hand in her own. She blushed slightly and quickly let him go.

Meanwhile, Farnmir turned the pistol on Vhetin and snarled, "Or what about you?"

He sighed again and shook his head. "You'd just be doing Kestra's kidnappers more good, trust me."

"Trust you?" Kalyn shouted. " _Trust_ you? You manipulated me into a contract with insufficient intel! I should _kill_ you right now!”

“Then _do_ it!” he shouted, suddenly on his feet. He stepped toward her, until the barrel of her pistol hit his armored chest with a metallic _clack_. When she did nothing, he grabbed the pistol and held it to the gap in his chest plates. A shot from that close range would kill him instantly.

“What are you waiting for?” he snapped. “Do it!”

Farnmir stared at him, her expression livid, then let out an explosive curse and yanked the pistol from his grasp. She holstered it, then leaned forward until her face was almost pressed against his helmet front.

“One of these days,” she growled, her eyes flashing dangerously, “your corpse is going to be found lying in some back-alley gutter. And I just hope I’m the one who gets to put it there.”

“If you’re done making empty threats,” Vhetin growled, “please shut up, step back, and let me get back to rescuing my friend.”

Farnmir stared at him lividly, clenching and unclenching one fist. Then she turned and stormed out of the room, leaving the rest in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, Shuk’orok let out a quiet grumble that seemed to shatter the tension in the room. Jay took a shaky breath, then turned to Vhetin and said, “That was pretty impressive. How did you know she was bluffing?”

He didn’t reply, just stared after Kalyn. Jay hesitated, frowning, then said, “You... you didn’t know she was bluffing, did you?”

No response.

“Then did you actually _want_ her to shoot you?”

He silently turned back to the holding cell and resumed his work trying to reactivate it. Jay stared at him, slightly disturbed by his silence, then sighed and turned away, muttering, “Whatever.”

As she stepped toward the door, he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said. “I didn’t think it mattered that Kestra was Force-Sensitive. I was wrong.”

“I don’t care if she’s Force-Sensitive, Vhetin,” she sighed, turning back to him. He was once again sitting cross-legged in front of the machine, half-turned away from her. “I care that you saw fit to withhold information from me. Damn it, Stripes, how am I supposed to trust you when you don’t tell me the truth about assignments like this?”

“I never suggested you should trust me.”

“Don’t act like you’re some righteous, misunderstood soldier,” she said softly, shaking her head, “you’re not. You’re just another normal human being, and if we’re going to be partners, I _need_ to be able to trust you.”

“Why?” he asked. “You’ve gotten to know me better since Corulag; you‘ve been able to see the psychopath that I am. Why are you still wanting to be my partner?”

Ge’tal and Shuk’orok were forgotten as Jay sat on a nearby crate and said, “Vhetin... I’m not going to lie and say that I agree with your opinions or your methods or even your career choice. But that doesn’t mean I hate you.”

“Why not? Everyone else seems to.”

She hesitated, surprised by this statement. “What do you mean? If this is about Brianna-”

He sighed and rested his helmet forehead against the metal of the holding cage in front of him. She could almost imagine him squeezing his eyes shut. It was a long time before he spoke again. When he did, his voice was very quiet.

“It’s my fault Kestra’s missing.”

“Come on. Not this again.”

“No, it _is_ my fault,” he pressed. “I... I was supposed to give her the strength and the skills needed to be able to defend herself. And now she’s been captured, and I’ve failed. Again. All I taught her was how to push other people away. How to believe that she was alone in the universe and that there’s no one out there to help her.”

He shook his head and finally looked up at her. His faceplate was as expressionless as ever, but she could almost feel the pain radiating off him. He stared at her, then murmured, “And I can’t help but think I’m doing the same thing with you. That I’m failing all over again.”

She hesitated, then stepped forward and placed a hand on his armored shoulder. “Vhetin...” she hesitated, then decided to use his first name for the first time since she’d known him. “Cin. I’m thankful for your teachings, I really am. And if anything, you’ve taught me that the only way to survive in this galaxy is to look to others when you’re in times of need.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I _do_ ,” she said forcefully. “And I know that if anyone has the slightest chance of rescuing Kestra, it’s you. It’s _us_.”

She gestured to Shuk’orok and Ge’tal and said, “We’re right here with you. And we’ll follow you all the way through this contract, whether that means rescuing Kestra, or being killed by these Stalkers.”

“Although we’ll be sure to try everything else before it gets that bad,” Ge’tal pitched in.

Vhetin shook his head and let out a quiet sigh. “I... I wish I could believe you.”

~~~~~~~~

Draco smiled to himself as he watched the bounty hunters talking, satisfied that the disconcerting ripples he’d sent through the ambience of the Force were having the desired effect on the three.

In large enough amounts, disturbances in the Force could be felt by non-sensitives. Most times someone ‘got the creeps’ or felt a cold shiver run down their spine, they were actually subconsciously feeling the fabric of the Force being twisted and frayed. And with a skilled practitioner of the Dark Side, it was little more than child’s play to cause those disturbances.

Tipping the blond-haired woman over the edge was barely worth the time it took to meditate. Inside she was already a pulsing explosion of frustration and hatred, shot through with sporadic ripples of betrayal felt towards another called _Cian_. These emotions were buried impressively deep down inside her mind, yet it had taken him little more than thirty seconds of concentration to bring that anger and sense of betrayal to the surface. She had broken in moments.

The black-armored Mandalorian was notably resistant to Draco’s probing. His mind was built like a fortress, with each emotion carefully encased behind barriers of sheer will. But Draco was a Sith Lord, and no normal being could resist his terrible will for long. As he had discreetly slipped into his mind, he found that the man’s heart was also in turmoil. He was at war with himself, fighting with conflicting feelings of love and nervousness revolving around a woman he called _Bri,_ though he was currently overcome with fear for his compatriot, Kestra. At the center of this storm was a fierce black fog of despair and depression that crept into every aspect of his thoughts, overrunning every second of his waking consciousness. It was this that the Sith Lord decided to exploit, drawing this internal anguish to the forefronts of the man’s thoughts.

The dark-haired woman, Jay, was by far the most surprising of the group. As Draco infiltrated her mind, he found that she was not a flurry of hate or depression, but rather possessed a very composed focus, which appeared to Draco like the calm surface of a cool lake. The surface of the water was sporadically disturbed by thoughts for the other Mandalorian, named _Ge_ _’tal,_ or a vague pain at something Cin Vhetin had said to her at some earlier point in time. But she was almost single-mindedly focused on each moment, as if she were purposely keeping her mind from straying toward thoughts of the future or, more likely, thoughts of the past. No matter what thoughts Draco tried to plant in her mind, be it anger, happiness, or attraction toward Ge’tal, she merely brushed it aside and focused on the task at hand.

Ge’tal and the Wookiee were merely tagging along to help the search party, Draco found, and were divided on who they trusted more: he sensed that Ge’tal would follow Jay’s lead no matter what happened, while the Wookiee trusted Cin Vhetin because of the Mandalorian’s hunting experience.

Draco almost smiled at that. That would make the two incredibly easy to turn against each other. With those they followed - Cin Vhetin and Jay - already at odds, it was merely a matter of breaking down the two partners and watching the others fall behind them. With Cin Vhetin and Jay Kolta reduced to whimpering idiots, driven insane by Draco’s might, there would be little to keep the rest from succumbing to his supernatural powers. All he needed was to draw them into the right arena and this unexpected complication would be dealt with sooner than he had anticipated. These were tried and true tactics, and had not failed the Sith Order yet.

Divide and conquer.


	11. Nightmares (Part 1)

Jay and Ge’tal stepped out of the room, leaving Vhetin and Shuk’orok to try and find out why the holding cage had no power. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she stared at the dark metal hallway.

Ge’tal looked over his shoulder, then murmured, “Wow. That whole situation was... interesting.”

“I’ve never seen Vhetin like that before,” she admitted quietly. “He’s always been very quiet, especially about the way he feels. To see him so open about it...”

She laughed, though there was no humor in the sound. “It’s scary.”

“This whole place gives me the creeps,” Ge’tal said as they made their way down the hall. “I think it’s getting to everybody.”

“ _Oya_ to that,” she muttered. “Where do you think Kalyn stomped off to?”

“If we’re lucky, off the side of the landing pad and right into the lava river.”

He hesitated, then said, “Wait a minute,” and stopped. He looked down at his boots, then said, “Jay, I want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry about what happened earlier and I’m sorry for treating you like just another pretty girl I have a crush on. Hell, I’m sorry for even getting you involved in this whole mess in the first place.”

“Ge’tal,” she said, “I told you, I’m not mad at you. I’m actually kind of flattered. And as far as getting me involved in this... well, trust me, I’ve been through a lot worse.”

He laughed a little, still looking at his boots. “I can imagine.”

As they began walking again, she said, “So how did you get involved with Kestra?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” she said, “I told you about how I was arrested and how Vhetin got me out. How did you meet Kestra and Shuk’orok?”

He shrugged and said, “I got on the bad side of a Hutt named Jobo. He sent some mercs to fry my _shebs_ , and I ran for it. Kestra just happened to be on Nal Hutta at the time, and she let me hide on her ship. She needed a ship mechanic, so she let me tag along so Jobo couldn’t track me down.”

“How exactly did you piss Jobo off?” she asked. “Did you owe him money?”

He shook his head, a small smile stretching across his features. “Okay, there was this really hot Twi’lek dancer he had, and I kind of-”

She laughed and nudged him in the shoulder. “Okay, never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“And you weren’t exactly honest with your side of the story,” he said, ducking under a coolant tube hanging from the ceiling as they walked.

She frowned at him. “What do you mean? I didn’t leave anything out.”

“Oh yes you did,” he said, flashing her a knowing smile. “You just said ‘I flew with some other pilots.’ Who were they? Who had the honor of being wingman or wingwoman to a future bounty hunter?”

“Oh,” she said, not smiling back. Her veins were suddenly full of ice, and her heart was pounding. It was one of the few times she’d really allowed herself to think about her fellow pilots, all of whom had been deemed killed-in-action. In the past she‘d consciously tried her hardest to just not to remember that horrible day, forcing herself not to look back. “It’s... I don’t want to talk about it.”

He glanced at her, then shrugged and said, “Okay. Your choice.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you,” she insisted. “It’s just that the subject still kind of hurts. I know it’s been over half a year, but-”

“Wait a minute,” he said suddenly, cutting her off. He frowned warily and looked down the hall. After a moment, he pulled his helmet over his head and pulled one of his pistols from its holster. When he spoke again, his voice sounded dark and threatening as it came from his helmet’s vocoder. “Grab your pistol or get behind me.”

Her blaster was instantly in her hand as he took a cautious step down the hall. When he raised his pistol cautiously, she followed at his shoulder and whispered, “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” he murmured, his helmet’s rangefinder sliding down over where his left eye would be. “I thought I heard something. Like a thump.”

“This place is supposed to be deserted. We cleared every room.”

“That’s what I thought too,” he growled. “But my motion tracker shows a contact ahead.”

“Where?” she asked, squinting to see through the darkness.

He slowly pointed toward a small ventilation shaft in the center of a T-junction of halls ahead of them. A metal grate covered the shaft, and Jay could see a dark form moving around inside.

The flashing red emergency lights threw contorted shadows on the walls, making the shadows seem alive. Her heart began to pound and she thought, _damn it, would it have killed Vhetin to find out why the_ lights _are off instead of that stupid holding cage?_

Ge’tal quickened his pace and together, he and Jay flanked the grate as if they were about to perform a breach of a very small door. He made a quick series of hand signals, silently saying, _On three, you pull the grate out, and I_ _’ll grab whatever’s in there and drag it out._

She nodded and tensed her legs, preparing to reach down and yank the grate out of its housing in the wall. Ge'tal slowly raised his hand and counted off on his fingers.

Three... two... one.

Jay reached down, hooked her fingers into the metal grating and yanked it out of the wall. It clattered away down the hall as Ge'tal knelt and reached in to the ventilation shaft. His arm disappeared up to his shoulder and a low growl sounded in his throat. He struggled for a moment, then grunted, "Got it!" and pulled back with all his might.

A high-pitched yelp came echoing out of the ventilation shaft and Jay let out a cry of surprise as Ge'tal dragged out a furiously struggling black figure that was most definitely _not_ human. It looked vaguely canine, with a long snout and ears. Ge'tal had his gloved fist wrapped around a thin, whiplike tail and the creature yelped and growled. It scrabbled at the floor, then twisted nimbly around and sunk its long teeth into its assailant's arm.

It would have been a painful wound. But as Jay stepped forward to help pry the creature off of Ge'tal, she heard a loud _scrrtch_ as the animal's teeth scraped along his _beskar_ gauntlet. The sudden attack was enough to make Ge'tal release his grip and the creature scampered away. It turned back to Jay and Ge'tal some distance away, arching its back and snarling at them as it lashed its tail back and forth.

"Are you okay?" Jay asked breathlessly. She helped haul Ge'tal to his feet. "Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so," he said, flexing his glove and staring at his scraped gauntlet. "I just didn't expect that."

The creature snarled again and let out a chirping bark. Ge'tal's head snapped up, as if he recognized the sound, and he cocked his head as he stared at the beast. He slowly got to his feet and said, "Jax? Is that you?"

The creature's tail froze, and its eyes flashed. It let out a curious bark, then it bounded forward, toward Ge'tal. Jay raised her pistol, thinking it was going to attack her friend again. But Ge'tal grabbed her hand and cried, "Wait! Don't shoot! Don't-"

Then the creature barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. Jay moved to help him, then froze when she heard him _laughing_. She hesitated, then realized that the creature was no longer attacking him, but was licking his helmet with a long purple tongue and letting out high-pitched yaps of joy.

"Hey!" Ge'tal laughed, struggling to push the creature off him. "Come on, Jax! It's okay, it's me!"

The creature, this 'Jax', let out a happy bark, then hopped back a few steps and began to let out a low humming noise in the back of its throat, similar to a feline purr.

Ge'tal was still chuckling as he clambered to his feet again and wiped saliva from his faceplate. Jay stared at him incredulously before saying, "Care to tell me what the _hell_ is going on?"

"Yeah," he laughed, wiping his gloves on his flight suit pants. "Jay, meet Jax, the fourth member of Kestra's crew."

"The _fourth_ member? What do you mean?"

"Jax is a Twirl," he explained. "A Faberian hunting hound. He's bonded to Kestra."

"What, like a pet?" Jay asked, glancing between the canine creature and Ge'tal.

"A little more in-depth than that," he said. "Faberians are paired with Twirls when they come of age. The hounds work as guardians and companions as Faberians grow up. Jax originally belonged to Kestra's mother, and he moved on when she was killed."

"So... he's a friendly?" she asked, frowning in confusion. "Then why did he attack you?"

"He was just scared," he said, leaning down and patting the creature on the head affectionately.

"How did he get here?"

"He must have been on Kestra's ship when those Stalkers took her hostage," he said, rubbing the canine under the chin. "You got away from those nasty Stalkers, didn't you? Didn't you cute little guy?"

Jax let out another chirping bark and licked his faceplate again. Then he suddenly stopped and sniffed the air, lashing his tail. His eyes flashed in the darkness, then he turned and bounded away down the hall, yapping the entire way.

"What the-" Ge'tal began. He was cut off as the emergency lights suddenly died with a low buzz, throwing them both into darkness.

Jay blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the sudden change in lighting. But the darkness was complete, and she couldn't even see Ge'tal as he straightened up in front of her. She almost screamed when she felt him grab her forearm.

"You okay?" he whispered. His voice, altered by his helmet vocoder, sounded terrifying in the pitch darkness.

"The lights went out," she said, sounding only slightly breathless. She was surprised at that, as her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt cold sweat break out on her forehead. "Nothing dangerous happened."

"I bet you ten creds that Vhetin electrocuted himself and shorted out power to the whole facility."

She laughed nervously and said, "Let's get back to the others and see."

"What about Jax?"

"He managed to find us once," she said, "and he'll be able to do it again. Come on... let's go."

"Okay," he said sounding reluctant. "My HUD can switch to low-light mode. Stay close, don't let go of my hand, and you'll be fine."

"Okay," she said, and stepped after him as he set off down the pitch-black hallway. She was able to hear their footsteps on the metal-grate floor and her breath was loud in her ears.

“Almost there,” Get’al whispered. “Just a little further. Just… wait.”

“What?” she whispered back. “What is it?”

“I think… I think I see Jax,” he said. “Wait here a minute. I’m going to go get him.”

“No, no,” she said, “Don’t leave me here. What are you-“

He let go of her hand and she heard his footprints fading down the hall to her left. After only moments, she stood in complete silence again. Her heart began to pound and she clenched her fists nervously. After a moment, she whispered, “Ge’tal? Where are you?”

A suddenly cold breeze stirred her hair and she shivered. Her hand drifted toward her pistol as she whispered, “Ge’tal? Say something; you’re freaking me out here.”

“Why?” came a gravelly, raspy voice from the darkness. “Afraid of the dark?”

She let out a strangled cry and drew her pistol, aiming it blindly into the dark. She could feel her hands shaking as she swiveled to search for the source of the voice.

“Who are you?” she said. “What do you want?”

A raspy, unhealthy-sounding wheeze echoed through the hall, making Jay spin to aim behind her. When she did, an evil laugh rang in Jay’s ears and the voice said, “Ah, the indomitable spirit of the bounty hunter. We have tales of your kind, of hunters who aided the Sith during the days of the Old Republic. You were most valuable — if slightly dim-witted — allies.”

“So you're a Sith,” she said.

“How can you be sure?” the voice growled. As it spoke, something big brushed past her back. She spun, but could feel nothing in the darkness. She heard another echoing laugh.

“You… you’re Darth Draco, aren’t you?”

“In the flesh,” he hissed, not without pride. “Darth Draco, Dark Lord of the Sith and Dark Lord of the Stalkers.”

She heard a heavy bootstep behind her, but this time she didn’t turn. It was a trick, she knew it. “Don’t try and screw with me. You can’t get inside my head.”

“Can’t I?” he said. “I am more powerful than you can imagine, girl.”

Jay slowly turned, listening for the slightest sign of someone following her. She heard the distant groans and pings of the coolant system grinding down after the power outage.

 _If the coolant system was out,_ she thought, _what was that cold breeze just now?_

"Yes," hissed Draco, sounding as if he was whispering right in her ear. She could feel it, as if someone was standing right over her shoulder. "That's it, use that analytical mind of yours. See the truth that you are out of your league with me."

The temperature seemed to have dropped at least thirty degrees, and she thought she might be able to see her breath if the lights were on. She closed her eyes and shuddered as she felt the tickle of something sharp tracing down the small of her back. The razor-bladed finger of a Sith Stalker, perhaps?

"Your weapons are useless," the Sith Lord said, "your fragile mind strained to breaking point. I can... hmm, I can _taste_ your fear..."

She slammed her elbow out toward the phantom she sensed hovering over her shoulder. She hit nothing but empty air.

"Impressive attempt," Draco said. "But, in the end, overly pointless."

A red lightsaber blade sprang to life in front of her with a familiar _snap-hiss_ she'd heard many times while hunting with Vhetin. The bar of light illuminated a nightmarish armored figure with a thin stripe of a visor and wickedly sharp, razor-bladed fingers.

She knew better than to attack again. She turned and ran as fast as safely possible, reaching her arms out to feel ahead of her to find her way, hearing Draco's echoing laugh follow her as she fled.

She didn't know how long she groped in the dark, blindly retreating from the armored figure. She just knew that it was some time before she stopped dead and looked around the pitch-dark hallways thinking, _uh oh. This wasn_ _’t a good idea._

She slowly turned in a full circle, then called, "Ge'tal? You out there?"

There was no answer. Her voice suddenly sounded very small as she said, "Vhetin? Kalyn? Anyone?"

There was only silence, and she felt the cold breeze slowly descend on her again. She rubbed her arms and fastened up her jacket before drawing her pistol again. She took a deep, calming breath before looking around nervously and thinking, _This isn't good_.

She suddenly heard a heavy bootstep behind her and someone grabbed her shoulder. She screamed and turned, firing her pistol twice. There were two flashes of blinding yellow light and the sound of the shots echoed through the halls. She heard a muffled gurgle and a heavy body fell to the floor.

"Who is that?" she whispered breathlessly as she cautiously knelt and felt for the body. She needed to make sure this Darth Draco was dead, make sure he wasn't going to jump up and -

 _Oh no_.

Her heart turned to ice and she suddenly scrambled away, the grated floor cutting into her hands as she frantically retreated from the body . Her back hit the solid wall and she almost screamed, her breath coming in short gasps.

 _Oh no_ , she thought again. She dropped her pistol and put her hands over her ears, staring in the direction of the body with horror as she thought, _Oh no, oh no, no, no. I killed him. I_ killed _him. He's dead._

Her breath came in horrified gasps. Then she curled up on the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees, and began to cry.

 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

**Two minutes earlier**

 

Vhetin crept down the hall, rifle shouldered, and whispered, "Shuk'orok, stay close. Don't wander off."

The Wookiee let out a snuffling grumble and Vhetin replied, "I don't care. Something's wrong here, and we need to round everyone up. You getting lost isn't going to help."

He roared and Vhetin's 360-degree vision, painted fuzzy black and white in low-light mode, showed him shaking his furry head. He readjusted his massive grip on his equally massive pistol.

"I don't care that you can see in the dark," Vhetin grumbled. "Kalyn's on her own, and Ge'tal and Jay are still out there. Strength in numbers, buddy."

Shuk'orok had no reply to that, and fell into step behind him. He grumbled at Vhetin.

"I don't know if it's our Draco guy. But he's our best bet."

The Wookiee howled and Vhetin sighed and stopped. He looked at the big alien, then said, "Fine. If I use it, will it make you feel better?"

Kestra's copilot nodded emphatically and Vhetin sighed again as he clipped his DC to his belt and unhooked a lightsaber. He ignited it and held it up in the air, letting it shed bluish light over the hall.

"Happy now?" he asked. Shuk'orok let out a contented grumble. A moment later, he barked deeply.

"I don't know why the power is out," he said, frowning behind his helmet. "I'm not sure... Kalyn checked the generators and said they were working fine."

Shuk'orok bellowed, to which Vhetin replied, "I'm not exactly up to scratch on Force techniques, so I'm not sure if a Sith could make the lights go out. You're Kestra's copilot; you should be more experienced with that kind of stuff than me."

The Wookiee snarled, and Vhetin shook his head. "Fine, fine. You don't need to get so testy."

Shuk'orok began to howl something more, but Vhetin cut him off. "Just... try to stay quiet, will you? If this is Draco, he'd have to be deaf not to hear you howling."

From then on, they walked in silence. Vhetin's low-light HUD was able to cut through the gloom, but there honestly wasn't much to see. Just hall after hall of metal-grate floors and coolant tubes set into the ceiling.

Vhetin held his saber out in front of him in a defensive posture as he crept around corners. He booted up his helmet's life-sign scanners and whispered, "Jay? Ge'tal?"

After what seemed like an eternity, they reached a T-junction in the hall and Vhetin held up a fist, signaling for Shuk'orok to stop. He pulled his pistol with his left hand, still holding his saber in his right, and whispered, "Hold here. I'll check it out."

He slowly stepped forward, careful to put as little weight as possible on his feet so as to reduce the sound of his footsteps. He pressed his backplate against the wall and peeked around the corner. Like usual, there were only empty halls.

"Okay," he said, waving Shuk'orok forward. "We're clea-"

He was cut off as a dark canine figure came scrabbling down the hallway, yapping and lashing its whiplike tail. It blew past Vhetin without even stopping, disappearing down the hallway with an echoing bark.

 _What the_ shab _was that?_ Vhetin thought, looking after the creature. He slowly raised his hand and motioned Shuk’orok forward again. The Wookiee stepped forward with a confused growl.

“I don’t know what that was,” Vhetin said, shaking his head. “Probably just some indigenous pest.”

Shuk’orok howled, and Vhetin didn’t need to translate to get the gist of what he’d said; it didn’t _look_ like a pest. But he didn’t know what it was, and his primary job was to round up Kalyn, Get’al, and Jay. None of them were safe until they were all together again. If it was more Stalkers, they were all in danger. If it was this Draco character, things got exponentially more complicated.

He’d come across more Force-sensitives during his career than he cared for, Kestra included, but a Sith Lord was beyond his experience. Well, apart from Vader. And if Draco was anything like _him_ , it was a good bet they were all going to die.

“Shuk’orok,” he whispered, cautiously peeking around the corner again, wary in case another of those things jumped out at them, “move up, take point.”

There was no response. He cocked his head slightly and repeated, “Shuk’orok, take _point_.”

When there was still nothing but silence, he turned back to the Wookiee.

There was no one there, only an empty hallway.

“Shuk-“ he began, but fell silent as a wash of static raced across his HUD. He hesitated, tapping the side of his helmet. The static returned even stronger, drowning out his helmet’s audio receptors with white noise. He grimaced, clapping a hand to his helmet as his HUD completely faded into static.

He cursed and ripped off his helmet, ears ringing from the noise. As he shook the sensation off, he looked around through the dark and called, “Shuk’orok? I thought I told you not to wander off!”

His reprimand was met with silence. He rubbed his eyes, which were sore from the flashing lights of his HUD, and squinted through the darkness. He was just barely able to make out the shape of the walls and ceiling. The shadows retreated slightly when he raised his saber.

“Come on, fuzzball,” he called. “Stop screwing around.”

“I am anything,” came a gravelly voice, “if not _deadly_ serious.”

Vhetin spun, quickly holstering his pistol and taking his saber into a two-handed defensive grip. The blue light cast tall, ominous shadows on the contoured walls, making it hard to pick out one shape from the next. He narrowed his eyes as he slowly pivoted, making sure he wasn’t keeping his back to one direction for too long.

“Darth Draco,” he said. “Why don’t you show your ugly face so I can ram a _beskad_ through it.”

There was a low chuckle. “Ah, Mandalorians. Such spirit. Such fury. It is almost admirable.”

“Compliments from a Sith Lord,” Vhetin murmured, “interesting. I’d feel more flattered if they were coming from a Hutt. Or maybe a rancor.”

“I’m fairly certain your attitude will change once you hear what I have to say. Or, more precisely, show you.”

“What do you mean?”

An ear-splitting whistle cut through Vhetin’s head, making him groan and press a hand to his forehead. His ears ringing, he fell to his knees as the sound amplified. The sound built, rising higher and higher in pitch until he thought his head would shatter like a sheet of glass.

A blinding white explosion flashed through his mind, making him shout. It was like psychometry, but exponentially more painful. The image of Kestra, confined in the holding cell by crackling tendrils of blue-white lightning, faded into his mind. As he watched, purplish lightning arced toward her, enveloping her body.

“ _No!_ _” Kestra screamed, “Please! S-stop!”_

_“If you wish the pain to stop,” Draco shouted over her agonized screams, “give in to the Dark Side! Submit!”_

_“No!” she repeated. “I won’t!”_

_“Give_ in _!_ _” Draco roared, the lightning snapping through the room. “You are more valuable to me alive!”_

“Kestra,” Vhetin groaned, holding his head. “Don’t… don’t hurt her.”

“The pain is in the past,” Draco whispered, sounding as if he was standing right behind Vhetin. “She has already endured her pain.”

“I… I failed her,” he grimaced. “She trusted me to keep her from harm.”

“She cried for you,” Draco whispered maliciously. Vhetin could hear echoing screams in his head, Kestra’s voice, calling _Vhetin! Cin, help me! Make them stop!_

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Your friend endured her pain like a true warrior… before the end.”

“You… you didn’t kill her,” Vhetin gasped. “ _Please_ say you didn’t kill her.”

“That is not for you to know, _Stripes_ ,” Draco hissed, dark amusement in his voice. “She is _mine now_.”

“No!” Vhetin shouted, rising to his feet and slashing in the direction of the voice. “I don’t believe you!”

He froze as he saw just who he was pointing his saber at.

It was a tall human female wearing a long black cloak over form-fitting body armor. Her black hair was pulled back in a braid down her back as her dark eyes regarded him with cold fury.

"Ranek," he said, his voice sounding breathless. "It... It can't be you."

She was up in his face in a moment, slamming her fist into his collarbone and knocking him to the floor, just as she had hundreds of times while she was training with him.

"You worthless maggot," she said, regarding him with that same cool gaze that he so hated. "A simple matter like finding a girl and you _fail_. It's your karking job to do that."

"I... I wasn't fast enough," he gasped. "I couldn't-"

"Don't make excuses," she growled at him. "Excuses don't change the fact that Kestra needed you and you failed."

She whipped her boot across his face, making him cry out and hold his face. Suddenly he was fourteen years old again, at the mercy of his ruthless teacher, unable to fight back.

"You failed to act," she said. "And now she's _dead_ because of you."

"She's not-"

"She's _dead_." Ranek snapped. "Because of you."

"No!" he shouted, coming to his feet. Rage boiled in his heart as he slashed up with his saber. Ranek cried out and staggered back, clutching at the smoking wound in her chest.

He stared at her as she fell to the floor. His breath came in furious gasps and his eyes flashed in the darkness. All the rage he felt toward this woman, all the fury that had been pent up inside him for more than five years, all came spilling out an a flood.

"Now you _listen_ to me, you _bitch_!" he shouted, stepping forward and grabbing a fistful of the woman's hair. He slammed her against the metal grate floor and snapped, "Kestra is _not dead_. And I will _not_ fail her. I'll find her and get her back."

"Cin!" she cried out in pain, "Cin, stop!"

Vhetin froze immediately, his eyes widening in shock. He knew that voice, and it wasn't Ranek's.

"B-bri?" he stammered, falling back and crawling away.

It was Brianna lying on her back, grasping for breath as she clutched at the burn in her chest. Silent tears of pain were leaking from her eyes and she moaned in agony.

Vhetin scrambled forward and took her hand, his body feeling numb as he did.

"Bri?" he asked her. "Bri, can you hear me?"

"C-cin," she gasped. "Is that you?"

"I'm here," he said, his vision blurry with tears as he kissed her hand gently. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I thought you were Ranek."

"You... you _attacked me_ ," she moaned, coughing and wheezing. "After all I've done for you, you turned on me."

"I didn't know it was you!" he pressed. "Don't you know that? I didn't know it was you!"

"You... you attacked me," she sighed, her grip on his hand slowly relaxing as her life slipped away. "You... you _killed_ me."

 _No_ , he thought, shaking his head. _No, it's a trick. It's just Draco trying to get inside your head._

Brianna let out an agonized moan, close to a scream, and Vhetin put his hands over his ears to block out the sound.

"Stop," he murmured, "Stop. Please stop!"

"Cin!" Brianna groaned, "Don't leave me!"

"You're not real!" he shouted. He scrambled back, thinking, _Use your brain, Vhetin. Brianna's safe back on Mandalore. There's no way she could be here, halfway across the galaxy._

" _Cin_ ," she whispered. "Don't... don't let me die alone."

"No," he repeated. "No, you're not real."

Then he staggered to his feet, scooping up his fallen lightsaber as he went, and sprinted away down the hall. He could hear Brianna screaming for him, but he ignored her voice and hated himself because of it.

He'd just rounded a corner when he heard the loud _snap_ of blaster shots, and his world burst into an explosion of yellow light.


	12. Nightmares (Part 2)

Ge'tal peeked around the corner, pistols at the ready. His helmet cut through the gloom, illuminating the halls around him.

 _Okay,_ he thought, _stay calm. You took two steps down a side hall, turned around, and Jay was gone. You'll find her again._

His HUD proximity scanner showed that there was a living contact just down the hall and to the right. Maybe it was Jay, maybe it was... something else.

Things had gone to hell almost the moment the lights had gone out. Since then, he'd heard screams, pistol shots, and the telltale hum of a lightsaber.

His bootsteps seemed far too loud as he snuck down the hall. He kept his mouth determinedly shut in case the contact wasn't a friendly. He'd accidentally given away his position too many times in the past to make the same stupid mistake again. His helmet's rangefinder slid down, further increasing his visibility of the dark hallway.

 _Okay,_ he thought to himself. _Remember Ge'tal, nice and easy. You've got the element of surprise here. Just... be... quiet._

His foot hit a metal coolant tube carelessly lying across the floor. He tripped over it with a curse, and the tube went rattling loudly down the hall. He grimaced as the tube rolled to the end of the hall, then apparently began clattering down a very long set of stairs.

" _Shab_ ," he whispered inside his helmet. "I could almost feel that coming."

He let out a deep breath before throwing himself around the corner, pistols at the ready.

He wasn't the only one jumping into action. He let out a shout of surprise as he saw blonde hair and the flash of a silver-plated pistol. He cursed as Kalyn pressed her pistol to his un-armored neck, one of the few weak points on a Mando's armor. Her pistol had a small mounted light, which turned her face into a haunted-looking ghost as it lit up the pitch blackness around them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he called, holding his hands up in the air placatingly. "Easy there, warrior babe. I'm a friendly, remember?"

"Prove it," she snapped, her finger uncomfortably tight on the firing stud.

"What?"

"There's some weird kriffing stuff going on in here," she said. "I've heard screams, felt some kind of freezing wind even though we're on a lava planet, and I've... seen things."

"Seen things?" he inquired.

"Bad things," was as far as she would elaborate.

"Um... okay," he said, looking down at the pistol that was still pressed against his neck. "So do you want to take the gun off me?"

"No."

"Okay," he said calmly. "All right, um... why not?"

"Because I have no way of knowing if you're just another hallucination," she growled. "Prove you're really Ge'tal and _maybe_ I'll let you go."

"Isn't my rugged attractiveness proof enough?" he inquired hopefully.

She narrowed her eyes determinedly and he cried, "Okay, okay, just calm down! Um... I know you don't like Vhetin."

" _Everyone_ knows I don't like Vhetin," she snapped. "You'll have to do better than that."

"I... I know that we picked you up on Coruscant."

"Any one of those Stalkers that were following Vhetin could tell me as much. One last chance."

"I don't know what to tell you!" he snapped, beginning to sweat now. "Uh... I..."

He stared at the bounty huntress and decided to give it one last try. He swallowed nervously, then said, "I think I may be falling in love with Jay. Only the real me would be able to tell you that."

She stared at him a long time, narrowing her green eyes again. Then she sighed and lowered the pistol, clicking the safety on. Ge'tal stared at the weapon, then let out a long, relieved breath.

"You know," he said, removing his helmet for a moment to wipe the sweat off his forehead, "you could have just asked nicely if it was me. The whole gun in the face thing was kind of unnecessary."

"I had to be sure," she grumbled, looking over Ge'tal's shoulder and studying the hall behind him. "One of those Stalkers in disguise would have fought back if they had a blaster under their chin. Only a spineless worm like yourself would have just stood there. Consider yourself lucky."

"Thanks... I think," he said, scowling at her as she brushed past him. He pulled his _buy_ _’ce_ over his head again and said, "In the meantime, if you're done eviscerating my ego, we have to find the others."

"What do you think I was trying to do before you blundered into me?" she asked, pressing her back against the wall and peeking around a nearby corner. "This is exactly what this Draco guy wants us to do; split up, get lost, and turn on each other out of fear."

"Divide and conquer," Ge'tal said, nodding.

"Exactly," she whispered. "But if we can link up with Vhetin and Kolta, then we might be able to make it out of this alive."

She turned her head and looked him up and down before saying, "How exactly did you make it out here?"

He quickly filled her in on what had happened since the power went out; the way he and Jay discovered Jax, how Jay had disappeared, and how he'd heard distant sounds of terrified fighting echoing through the facility.

She chuckled as he finished his quick story and said, "Interesting that this Draco guy has left you alone. Maybe he doesn't think you as much of a threat."

"Man, you just never miss a chance to put me down, do you?" he sighed, exasperated. "It's like you're purposely trying to-"

There was another loud clash from behind them and they both spun, blasters aimed at the source of the noise. The clatter of metal-on-metal continued for a moment, sounding like something was running around with a collar of plastisteel cans around its neck, before fading into silence.

"That came from the direction of the mess hall," Ge'tal whispered, pulling up a map of the facility on his HUD. "What do you think it was?"

She didn't answer, but instead shook a wayward strand of hair out of her face as she slowly stepped forward, turning up the illumination setting on her small pistol lamp. A thin cone of white light cut through the darkness, illuminating sections of the metal hall.

"Maybe it was Vhetin," he guessed. “Or Jay.”

"Maybe it was Draco," she replied quietly.

They slowly headed down the left-side hall, taking turns scouting out the area ahead. Every so often another clatter of metal would sound from further in the facility, making Ge’tal jump slightly every time it did.

After what seemed like hours, a doorway faded into view on his HUD. A powerless sign over the door read _MESS HALL_.

Kalyn quickly pressed her back against the wall near the door, double-checking her pistol charge and clicking off her light. “Okay,” she whispered to him. “Get in there, secure the area, and I’ll be right behind you.”

“What happened to ‘ladies first?’”

She scowled at him, looking him right in the eyes even though she wouldn’t have been able to see in the darkness. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re the only one who can see in the dark, smartass.”

“Oh,” he said, fidgeting with his pistol grips. “Right.”

“On three?”

“Screw that,” he said. “I’m just going in there.”

Then he sprinted into the room, firing two shots into the ceiling and shouting, “Identify yourself, whoever you are!”

There was another crash and he spun toward the sound. “Don’t move! Hands on your head!”

Farnmir stepped into the room now as well, her pistol lamp unleashing a blast of white light. She aimed in the same direction as Ge’tal and shouted, “Do as he says! Now, or you’re dead!”

But as Ge’tal’s HUD filtered out the shape of whatever was making the noise, he saw that it wasn’t a contact. It wasn’t even really capable of understanding them. He lowered his pistols and sighed in exasperation as he saw Jax with his long-snouted face stuck in a duraplast can of meal rations. The Twirl was thrashing about on the floor, crashing his head into nearby eating tables and yelping each time he did.

“Whoa there,” Ge’tal said, catching the creature’s head. “Easy, Jax. It’s me.”

Jax whimpered, the sound echoing slightly inside the can. He yelped loudly as Ge’tal pulled the can off his head. He licked the last traces of meal ration off his snout with his long tongue then stared at his rescuer and let out a contented chirp.

“You were just hungry, weren’t you buddy?” Ge’tal asked, tossing the ration can aside. “You didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

Jax let out another melodious chirp and wagged his whip-like tail.

Ge’tal straightened and nodded to Farnmir. “He’s with us,” he said. “It’s okay.”

With a loud buzz, the lights flickered, then suddenly sprang to life, flooding the mess hall with light. Ge’tal grimaced as his low-light HUD washed out to a bright white. The system soon switched to its normal tactical mode, and he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light.

"About karking time," Kalyn muttered.

“See?” he said. “Everything is sorting itself out on its own.”

Then, somewhere else in the facility, a woman let out a terrified scream, shattering the silence. Ge’tal and Kalyn both turned toward the sound, and Jax whimpered. _Jay_ , Ge’tal thought, recognizing the voice. _Oh no_.

He looked at Kalyn and said, “We have to move out.”

She nodded, narrowing her eyes as she holstered her pistol. “I think you’re right. We’re not out of this yet.”

He knelt in front of Jax and rubbed the creature’s head. “Okay, _Jax_ _’ika_ ,” he said. “Can you help us find Jay? Do you remember the nice lady who you met earlier?”

The Twirl barked happily and Get’al said, “Good. Can you find her for us? Can you lead us to her?”

He barked again, then turned and took off down the brightly-lit hall. Ge’tal motioned for Kalyn to follow, saying, “Come on!”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

It didn't take long for them to find Jay; Twirls were expert trackers, and Jax was no exception. He bounded through the halls, chirping and yapping his head off as he went.

She was curled up against the wall, clutching her knees to her chest and sobbing softly. Her entire body shook uncontrollably in spasms of shock. Tendrils of smoke wafted from the barrel of her pistol, evidence of a recent discharge.

"Jay," Ge'tal said quietly. He knelt next to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all-"

"Get away!" she shouted, scrambling away from him before curling up like before. "Leave me alone!"

"Jay," he said. "It's me. It's Ge'tal."

She let out a gasp and her entire body shivered even harder than before. She put a hand to her face and pushed her hair out of her eyes, staring at him with wide, tearful eyes. She opened her mouth for a moment, then shook her head. "No," she whispered, burying her face in her arms again. "You're just another one of _them_."

"Them?" Kalyn said, raising an eyebrow.

"The visions," Jay whimpered, shivering again. "The hallucinations."

"Jay," Ge'tal said, his voice slow and calm. He pulled his helmet off and set it on the floor beside him. "Why are you crying?"

"I... I killed him," she sobbed. "H-he's dead. I _killed_ him."

"Who?" he said, slightly alarmed. "Who's dead?"

" _Vhetin_!" she shouted, curling into an even tighter ball. "I killed him! I shot him in the _face!_ "

"What?" he said disbelivingly. "Where... where is he?"

She pointed with a shaky finger further down the hall, then broke down in sobs again. Ge'tal followed her finger and saw nothing but an empty hall, with two dark burn scars on the wall. He frowned for a moment in confusion, then said, "Jay... calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she shouted. "I _killed_ my partner and my best friend!"

She shook her head. "I thought it was Draco. B-but when the lights came on, it was Vhetin. And his face... his _f-face was gone_!"

"Kolta," Farnmir said, an uncommon look of sympathy crossing her face, "Vhetin isn't dead."

"He's _right there_!" she shouted, gesturing at the burns on the wall. "Don't tell me he isn't dead."

"Jay," Ge'tal said, putting a hand on her shoulder again, "it wasn't Vhetin. It was just another hallucination. He's not dead."

She stared at him, then burst into tears all over again. He jumped slightly as she threw her arms around his neck and clutched at him tightly. He blinked, then awkwardly began to stroke her hair.

"And h-how do I know you aren't one of _them_?" she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Because," he said with a slight smile, "if I was a hallucination, there'd be nothing to hug."

She let out a watery chuckle, then began to cry harder. Ge'tal patted her back and stroked her hair soothingly. Jax padded up and sniffed at Jay, then began licking her bootheel.

Kalyn stared at the two for a time, then stepped past them and kept watch on the hall leading deeper into the facility. She drew her pistol, then disappeared down a side hall.

"Come on, _Ja'ika_ ," Ge'tal said, taking her by the shoulders and helping her to her feet. "Let's get you out of here."

Together, they made their way slowly down the hallway, following Kalyn. Ge'tal paused to scoop up his helmet, clipping it to his belt.

Jay let out a shaky breath and said, " _Fierfek_. I h-hate this place."

"We all do," Ge'tal sighed, patting her shoulder. "We all do."

They walked for several silent minutes, during which Jay regained most of her composure. When her shaky, gasping breaths had most abated, he looked over at her and said, "Feeling better?"

She nodded, her movements slow and shaky. "I... I think so. Thank you for finding me. I don't know how much longer I w-would have lasted on my own."

"Are you kidding?" he said. "What are friends for? Besides, being your savior is actually kind of nice."

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked, letting out an exhausted sigh. "Are you sure Vhetin wasn't dead? I mean..."

"I'm sure," he reassured her. "All that was there was blaster burns from your shots."

"Oh _shab_ ," she sighed, closing her eyes. "He... he was right there. I c-could see him, as clearly as I can see you."

"I know," he said. "But it was just that bastard Draco messing with you. Don't worry about it."

They turned another corner and found themselves back where they began; outside Kestra's former holding cell. Ge'tal let out a sigh of relief as the door came into view. Then he heard Jay gasp as a familiar black-armored form stepped out of the room.

"There you guys are," Vhetin said, nodding to each of them. His helmet was missing, but his face was covered by a black cloth facemask. His intense blue eyes regarded both of them with visible relief.

Jay stared at him with wide eyes, then broke into tears again. She stepped away from Ge'tal and collapsed against Vhetin's chest. The Mandalorian visibly stiffened, looking down at Jay in confusion.

"Nice to see you too _ner vod_ ," Ge'tal said, hooking a thumb into his belt. He gestured at his own helmet and asked, "What happened to your _buy'ce_?"

"Lost it," Vhetin said stiffly, still looking slightly uncomfortable as Jay sobbed quietly into his shoulder. "What's gotten into her?"

"She had some kind of hallucination that she'd killed you," Ge'tal explained. "It really got to her for some reason."

The look in Vhetin's eyes told Ge'tal that he knew exactly what Jay had gone through. Then the Mandalorian blinked and the look was gone.

"I'm so _sorry_ ," Jay cried. "I thought it was Draco, but when the lights came on you were lying on the floor and your face had exploded. It was s-so _horrible_."

"It's okay," Vhetin said in as soothing a voice as he could muster. He held Jay at arm's length and said, "I'm fine. Why don't you head inside and see if you can get some sleep. All that adrenaline must have made you tired."

She nodded slowly and shuffled past him, into the room. Vhetin watched her go, then turned his gaze thoughtfully to the floor.

Ge'tal stepped forward and said, "How exactly did you manage to get back here? It's not exactly like this is the center of the facility; this place is like a _shabla_ maze."

He shrugged. "For reasons that are none of your business, I can see better in the dark than most. And once the power came back..."

"Care to explain that as well?"

"Shuk'orok and I got separated when the lights went out," Vhetin explained. "I wandered around in the dark for a while and... well, I saw some weird stuff."

"We all have," Ge'tal said, glancing after Jay.

"I got pretty turned around, but I happened to meet up with Shuk'orok again. _He_ was the one who almost shot me in the face. After I managed to keep him from ripping me limb from limb, and convinced him I wasn't a Stalker trying to ambush him, we made our way to the generator room."

"What was wrong?"

"Something had overloaded the generators with an electrical surge and tripped the generator safeties. It was just a simple matter of resetting the safeties."

"Glad you guys were able to get that turned around so fast," he sighed as they headed into the room. "A few more minutes in the dark and I would have probably freaked out as well."

"Yeah, well, all that aside," Vhetin said, bending down over the deactivated holding cell, "it looks like the same thing happened to this piece of junk."

"Wait a minute," Ge'tal said. He stepped quietly past Jay, who was already fast asleep with her back against the wall. "All this stuff was deactivated by electrical overcharge? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Vhetin nodded. "Force lightning. All this traces back to Draco."

"Big surprise there," Kalyn said, sitting on a nearby supply crate. She leaned back, throwing her face into shadow. "He seems to be everywhere at once."

"Force-users can be like that," Vhetin said, studying the interior of the holding cage one last time before closing the access hatch and straightening. "I know."

"So what do we do, since you're such a professional on the subject?" she inquired.

He shrugged. "We know from all these hallucinations we've been having that he's still somewhere in the facility. We need to stay somewhere he’ll be sure to go, so we can be sure to get there first.”

“And where is that, exactly?” Ge’tal said.

"I have no idea-" Vhetin began, but Kalyn surprisingly interjected.

“Think about it,” she said. “Draco has kidnapped Kestra and is torturing her. The fact that he won’t kill her means one thing: he wants to turn her into a twisted little Stalker. And he’s not going to leave her alone with his minions for long. He’s going to try and get back.”

“So you’re thinking he’s going to head for the docking bay?”

She nodded, and Vhetin froze. Ge'tal could understand why; _Void_ was the only ship out there. And if Draco got there first...

“Then what are we waiting for?” he said. “Let’s get there before he bugs out!”


	13. Draco's Escape

Vhetin and Ge’tal sprinted toward the landing pad they’d come from. Vhetin’s heart was pounding in his chest as he willed his legs to move faster.

If Draco escaped with _Void_ , not only would they be stranded here, they’d lose their only lead to finding Kestra. That could not happen, under any circumstances.

“Here,” he said, reaching down to his belt and pulling an ammo clip from one of the pouches hooked there. He tossed it to Ge’tal as they ran.

Ge’tal caught it and looked at Vhetin with surprise. “Shredder rounds? Are you sure you want to use these? Your ship-”

“If Draco’s already there,” Vhetin growled, “I’d rather see my ship as a smoldering wreck than flying away with our only chance of finding my friend.”

“Oh,” Ge’tal said. He hesitated, then ejected his pistol’s magazine and slapped in the shredder rounds. The pistol charged up with a whine and he said, “Okay then. As long as I have your permission.”

“Farnmir here,” came Kalyn’s voice over Vhetin’s gauntlet comm. He was beginning to miss his helmet and the situational awareness that the armor piece brought to a fight. He felt half-blind without the myriad of systems his HUD offered. “I’m almost in position.”

The huntress had split up with them a little earlier, heading for a good sniper post on the roof of the facility. If she could hit Draco with a sniper round, she could at least slow him down.

“Okay,” Vhetin said, loading his DC with shredder rounds. When the rifle began to whine like Ge’tal’s, he transferred it to his left hand and pulled his saber pike from his pack with his right. “We’re not far from the landing pad now. Tell me if you get eyes on Draco”

“Affirmative,” she replied. “Would you prefer a leg shot or a shoulder shot?”

“Leg shot,” Vhetin replied. “If you shoot him in the arm he’ll still be able to walk. We need him to-”

He was suddenly interrupted as Kalyn cursed loudly over the comm. Vhetin and Ge’tal both jogged to a halt, glancing at each other. Vhetin raised his gauntlet and said, “Kalyn, come in. What’s wrong?”

“I’m under attack!” she shouted. “Three Stalkers just came out of nowhere! Damn it, don’t you-”

The rest of her transmission was washed out in blasterfire. Vhetin tapped his comm and said, “Kalyn? Kalyn, come in.”

He glanced at Ge’tal, then tensed and shouted, “Down!” as he saw a dark figure slithering down the grated face of the wall behind the red-armored Mandalorian.

Ge’tal started and ducked when Vhetin leveled his DC one-handed at the dark figure. He mashed the trigger and the rifle kicked in his hand, unleashing a spout of fire from its barrel. The Stalker somehow anticipated the shot and flipped aside as the explosive round chewed a half-meter-wide hole in the wall. Melted durasteel shrapnel flew from the explosion, raining down in the confines of the hallway. Ge’tal cursed and covered his head.

Vhetin swung the rifle towards the Stalker as he felt the weapon feed another shredder round into the receiver. Before he could fire again, however, a pair of black boots swung down from the ceiling. The second Stalker kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling. His DC went clattering down the hall, just out of reach.

The Stalker male released his grip on the ceiling and landed heavily on Vhetin’s chest, activating a scarlet lightsaber and preparing to stab down.

Before he could, Ge’tal scrambled to his feet and fired. The shredder round hit the Stalker full in the chest. The Sith let out a warbling scream as he was blown bodily several meters down the hall.

Vhetin scrambled to his feet, activating his saber pike as he saw two more Stalkers swing down from the ceiling, each landing on one side of the first.

“Okay,” Ge’tal panted, “this whole 'don’t-know-we’re-here-until-you’re-already-dead' thing is getting really old. I _hate_ these guys.”

“I sympathize,” Vhetin murmured. He unhooked one of the normal lightsabers from his belt and tossed it to Ge’tal. “In the meantime, I think you’re going to need this.”

“Cool,” Ge’tal said, activating the blue blade. He grinned, then pulled his helmet over his head. “Kestra never lets me play with the shiny stick she has.”

“I wouldn‘t let you touch one either,” Vhetin said. “But like I said, you’re going to need it.”

Then the three Stalkers activated lightsabers of their own and charged. Vhetin spun his saber pike in his hands in a blindingly fast arc before pivoting and slashing at the nearest Sith.

The Stalker blocked the blow with a snarl, shoving Vhetin back and advancing toward him with his companion at his side. Vhetin quickly regained his balance and fell into a Makashi prep stance, with his pike held blade-down in one hand, his left hand stretched slightly forward cautiously.

When one of the Stalkers decided to slash at his unprotected hand, Vhetin made a fist and unleashed a blast of fire from his gauntlet-mounted flamethrower. The Stalker shouted in surprise as Vhetin slashed at his companion.

The Stalker effortlessly deflected the blow and swung at Vhetin's chest. The razor blades mounted to the Sith's glove gouged thin silver slashes in his chest plates, but otherwise didn't harm him.

Ge'tal, meanwhile, was struggling furiously to hold his own against the tallest of the Stalkers, who was wielding a red double-bladed lightsaber. Though Ge'tal was trained in classical _beskad_ combat, and even though a lightsaber was easy — if exponentially more dangerous — by comparison, going up against a trained Sith Warrior was another matter entirely. The red-armored Mando was cursing with every blow that he managed to knock aside.

Vhetin grimaced as he caught two separate blades on the shaft of his _beskar_ pike. He shoved the two away and ducked as one of the Stalker's unleashed a blue-white blast of Force Lightning. He caught the lightning on his saber blade, then slammed the blade against one of the Stalker's chestplate. The lightning jumped from blade to armor in a blinding arc, making the warrior scream and writhe.

Vhetin took advantage of the momentary distraction by leaping at the other Stalker, knocking him in the chest with an armored knee pad. He followed up by lashing the blunt shaft of his pike across the man's helmet, then pivoted and stabbed him through the back.

He didn't even pause for the man to fall to the ground. He just yanked the blade from the Stalker's body and turned to face the other, who was quickly beginning to regain his senses.

"Vhetin!" Ge'tal suddenly shouted. "Drop!"

Instinct kicked in and at the command, Vhetin dropped to the ground without hesitation. The Stalker Ge'tal had been fighting leaped right over him with a slash that would have taken his head off at the shoulders, then spun and stabbed into the floor just as Vhetin rolled out of the way. Vhetin came to his feet, grasping his saber pike securely as the Stalker spun his doublesaber in his hands.

The two slowly circled each other as the remaining Stalker picked its way towards Ge'tal. Vhetin's dark blue gaze bored straight into the Stalker's and the Sith flexed his grip over the contoured grip of his saber in anticipation.

Vhetin made the first move, darting forward and knocking his opponent's saber up with the _beskar_ shaft of his pike before slashing with the blue blade. The Stalker backflipped to avoid the blow, kicking Vhetin in the chin with his boots. Vhetin staggered slightly, but leaped forward, spinning his pike from hand to hand and slashing with the glowing blue energy blade.

The next few moments were a flurry of movement as he and the Sith exchanged blindingly fast slashes and stabs. Vhetin threw Teräs Käsi kicks and punches into the mix. Slowly, the Sith began to falter.

Ge'tal, meanwhile, was being pressed back against the wall by his opponent. He was doing his best to utilize his other equipment, but the Stalker was too fast. He dodged or deflected every attack the Mandalorian threw at him.

Vhetin was steadily pushed back toward the other Mandalorian by the ferocity of his own opponent’s attacks. He began to sweat as he struggled to deflect two separate lightsaber blades at virtually the same time. The Stalker let out a gravelly snarl as he pushed Vhetin back.

Vhetin suddenly ducked, falling to his knees as one of the red blades passed only centimeters over his head. As the Stalker staggered forward, having put too much strength into the blow and too much faith in his opponent to still be standing in front of him, Vhetin came to his feet and again and slashed his saber up and across the ribbed armor plates that covered the Sith’s back. The man screamed and fell face-first onto the ground. He twitched once, then fell still.

Vhetin turned to Ge’tal just in time to see him fire his gauntlet-mounted whipcord launcher. The wire wrapped around the shorter Stalker’s arm, cinching tightly using magnetic micro-repulsors.

Ge’tal yanked the Stalker forward and slammed his hard gauntleted arm into the man’s throat. The Sith let out a choking gurgle and fell to his knees, clutching at his crushed windpipe. He crumpled at Ge’tal’s feet, letting out pathetic little gurgles as he slowly suffocated to death.

Vhetin slowly relaxed, lowering his pike and deactivating the blade. Ge’tal stared down at the Stalker at his feet, then knelt and unwrapped his whipcord from the man’s arm. Once free, it reeled back into its housing on his gauntlet, the barbed head snapping back into place with a click.

Vhetin looked down at the Stalker, who was now whimpering feebly, feeling his lip curl slightly. Then he looked at Ge’tal and said, “Are you all right?”

The red-armored Mandalorian looked at his shoulder pad, which had a smoking, red-hot slash in it. He carefully patted it out and said, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

He tossed the deactivated lightsaber to Vhetin, who clipped it back to his belt. He nodded at the weapon and said, “I may have to buy one of those from you. They’re not as hard to use as everyone says.”

“They’re not hard to use,” Vhetin said, scooping up his DC from where it had fallen when he‘d been knocked onto his back. “Hard to master? That’s another matter entirely.”

Ge'tal slowly walked toward the first downed Stalker, the one he'd hit with the shredder round. It wasn't pretty; the round had punched a foot-wide hole in his chest. Dark blood was splattered across the metal floor, along with a good deal of gore.

Ge'tal pulled off his helmet, his face slightly green. "Wow," he said, putting the back of his hand to his mouth. "That's... that's disturbing."

Vhetin stepped up next to him, eyeing the Stalker's body with distaste. "He got what he deserved. Come on. We've got to move."

"Yeah," Ge'tal said as they moved past the bodies. "Do me a favor? Remind me not to puke inside my helmet."

They began to jog for the landing pad again when an ear-splitting whine split the silence. They both stopped dead and clutched at their heads as the sound rang in their heads.

“Aah,” Ge’tal cried. “What the hell is _that_?”

 _You have fought well, bounty hunters_ , said a raspy, gravelly voice in their heads. _I have not come across warriors of your caliber in my lifetime. But it is now time for you to end this game. Continue to resist, and you will be slaughtered._

Back in Kestra’s former holding cell, Jay screwed her eyes shut as she too covered her ears. Shuk’orok howled, pounding his fists against his chest in protest at the shrill ringing in his ears.

 _I have allowed this diversion to continue out of sheer curiosity,_ Draco snarled, _but my patience has come to an end. Surrender now, and your lives will be spared. I will leave you in peace, and we will go our separate ways._

Kalyn Farnmir rested her forehead against the floor, clenching her fists in agony as the high-pitched scream intensified.

_I am more powerful than anything you have ever imagined. I can see your every fear, hear your every thought. If you continue to fight, you will bring nothing but pain upon yourselves. It is useless to resist._

_Consider yourselves warned._

Suddenly Vhetin and Ge'tal were thrown into silence again. Ge'tal panted and shook his head. Vhetin looked up and rubbed his eyes.

"What... did he just send some kind of telepathic message?" Ge'tal said. "And did he _brag_ about himself while he did it?"

"That's not good," Vhetin said, straightening his facemask as they started running again. "That means he's closer to escaping than I thought. We need to move now."

It wasn't long before the door to the landing pad came into view. Vhetin doubled his pace, activating his saber pike once more. Ge'tal got to the door first and yanked on the handle.

"Damn it!" he shouted, pounding on the durasteel door. "It's locked!"

"Get out of the way," Vhetin said, stepping forward and leveling his saber at the door. As the red-armored Mando stepped out of the way, he plunged the blue blade into the metal and began dragging it around in a rough circle. After a few moments a human-sized circular section of the door fell out with a loud _crash_ , its edges glowing red-hot.

“Come on,” Vhetin said, jerking his head toward the hole. “No time to waste.”

Then he ducked through the hole and into the hot exterior air. Ash floated through the air and huge explosions of magma erupted high into the dark, cloudy sky. Ge’tal cursed as he stepped out through the hole and muttered, “Remind me never to come back to a place like this.”

“There he is!” Vhetin said, breaking into a run. He could see a dark, armored form striding up the exit ramp of _Void_ , a red lightsaber lit in his hand. The being gestured with a razor-bladed hand and the ramp slid back into its housing with a hum of hydraulics.

“ _No_!” Vhetin shouted as his ship’s engines warmed to a blinding bright blue and _Void_ lifted off into the air. He threw his saber pike aside and pulled his DC-17 to his shoulder. He fired off three quick shots, the shredder rounds making a loud _ca-chunk ca-chunk ca-chunk_ sound as they exploded from the barrel. Plumes of flame burst across the ship’s shields, but didn’t penetrate to the bulkheads underneath.

“ _Son of a bitch!_ ” he shouted furiously, throwing the DC after the ship as it roared away into the ash-filled sky. The rifle clattered to the landing pad, then skittered away and fell into the lava river far below. The blue lights of _Void_ ’s propulsion drives faded away into the black clouds with a last, echoing rumble.

“Well this is just kriffing _great_ ,” Ge’tal growled, sounding as if he was gritting his teeth. “Now we’re stranded here.”

Vhetin sighed and rubbed his eyes, which were watering from the heat. Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He slowly looked up and turned toward the shape.

It was an Imperial Shuttle, its wings folded up in a triangular shape. There were several figures hurrying back and forth. Their bodies were blurred by heat waves rising off the landing pad, but their razor-bladed hands were unmistakable.

Stalkers.

“Do you see that?” he asked Ge’tal, pointing toward the ship. “Please tell me I’m not hallucinating.”

Ge’tal stared at the ship, his face unreadable behind his facemask, then said, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Vhetin grabbed his saber pike from the ground and activated the blade, a dark scowl crossing his covered face. “Yeah,” he said. “Time for some payback.”

~~~~~~~~

Kalyn was jogging for the edge of the facility roof when her comm buzzed. She pressed a finger to the unit that was hooked into her ear, activating the channel. “This is Farnmir,” she said.

“Kalyn,” came Vhetin’s voice, “Draco got away with _Void_ , but we’ve found what looks like a stolen Imperial Shuttle. It’s crawling with Stalkers. Can you set up fifteen meters to the southeast?”

She craned her neck and looked over in that direction. She hefted her sniper rifle, then said, “Sure thing.”

“If we can get this ship before the Stalkers manage to take off, it’s a pretty good bet that they have the nav coordinates for their home base plugged into the computer. We need that ship.”

“Got it,” she replied, sprinting for the designated area of the roof. “Minimal damage to the ship, maximum damage to our freaky Sith friends.”

“Sometimes you aren’t half bad, Farnmir,” Vhetin said appreciatively, then signed off his end of the comm.

Kalyn shook her head as she came to a stop at the edge of the roof, getting down on her hands and knees and shouldering her rifle in movements that came as easily to her as breathing. She racked back the charging rod of the rifle and sighted in on the nearest Stalker.

"I'm in position," she murmured. "Waiting for your word."

"Take the shot," Vhetin replied.

Kalyn obliged. She pulled the firing stud back and the rifle kicked in her arms. A red blaster bolt shot through the air, drilling through the back of a Stalker's helmet and out the front before he could even move. The Sith crumpled silently while his compatriots turned to see what the commotion was about. In the half-second of distraction, Kalyn fired twice more and two more bodies fell to the ground. There were only six Stalkers left now.

She was about to fire again when Vhetin and Ge'tal ploughed into the fight. The black-armored Mando had activated his saber pike and mowed through his opponents with ruthless ferocity. Three Stalkers were down before Kalyn could even squeeze off another shot.

Ge'tal braced his knees and fired his pistols. Two more Stalkers were blasted off their feet in a cloud of vaporized blood as Vhetin simply stepped up to the final Stalker, batted a red lightsaber blade aside, grabbed the back of the man's neck, and rammed his pike through the Sith's chest. The man fell to the ground with a gurgle.

The battle was over before it had barely begun. Despite herself, Kalyn found herself impressed by Vhetin's merciless tactics. He was finally showing some toughness, some initiative. She slowly got to her feet and pulled her rifle up to her chest.

Ge'tal looked up at her and waved, to which she nodded in return. Vhetin meanwhile was single-mindedly focused on his task. He didn't pause as he stepped over the Stalker's body and disappeared inside the shuttle. Kalyn spotted an emergency escape to the landing pad below and quickly worked her way down.

"Nice shooting," she said to Ge'tal as they both headed toward the shuttle's exit ramp.

He gulped and said, "Yeah. I just wish these shredder rounds weren't so messy."

"Squeamish?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"More like of the opinion that internal organs should stay internal."

"Got it!" came Vhetin's voice from inside. He appeared at the doorway a moment later and said, "Call Shuk'orok and Jay and get them up here now. These Stalkers had the navicomputer pre-programmed with coordinates. It looks like they were headed for a planet a few parsecs outside the Outer Rim."

Ge'tal nodded and turned away to raise the other two members of their team, while Kalyn simply put her hands on her hips and stared at Vhetin.

"What?" he asked, some of his earlier excitement fading. "You want out of this mess?"

"Your money is still good for another four days," she said. "So I'm tagging along till then."

"So what's your problem?"

"We're about to barge in on what's possibly the largest concentration of Sith since the days of the Old Republic," she said. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"I have a plan for that," he said. "I've been thinking about this for a very long time. I know what I'm doing."

"For all our sakes," Kalyn sighed, "I hope so."

"Then come on," the Mandalorian said, jerking his head toward the interior of the ship. "We've got one pissed-off _osik_ head of a Sith Lord to track down."


	14. The Way of the Sith

**Planet Xexeron, Fifteen Parsecs into the Unknown Regions**

Draco strode up the huge stone staircase that led to his Order's sanctuary. Hidden deep in the recesses of a volcanic mountain, the enclave was the last of many temples built in honor of the Sith Lords that had conquered the planet's native inhabitants millennia ago. Twin hundred-foot-tall statues flanked either side of the staircase, arms stretched aggressively forward with huge stone lightsabers in their hands. Ash floated down through the air, reminding him of the Imperial mining facility  on Mustafar.

As he reached the top of the staircase, he nodded to the four Stalker guards at their post. They bowed their helmeted heads respectfully and stepped aside to let him pass, lowering scarlet lightsabers they were ordered to keep activated at all times.

He gestured at the tall double-doors, which swung open at his prompting. The barriers slid open with a tortured groan, revealing a huge interior chamber with floors carved from volcanic stone and huge reinforced pillars stretching up to the ceiling far above. Dark statues of the Order's greatest Grand Lords, known as Xexeros to Draco’s order, flanked either side of the hall, dominated by a thirty-foot monolith of the current Grand Lord, Xexero Savan. His giant stone arms were spread wide, his draping cloak making him look like a giant predatory soar-hawk swooping in on its prey.

No sooner had he set foot over the threshold than a booming voice called, "Darth Draco. Welcome home."

He paused before quickly falling to one knee, bowing his head and murmuring, "High Lord Timerius."

A tall figure stepped toward him, arms spread in welcome. He was wearing an immaculately-kept black robe and a cowl that obscured his face. The shadows seemed to cling at his heels and swirl around his arms like living beings. As he passed, the lit torches on the walls seemed to dim for a moment, then spring back to life as his shadow moved past.

The Sith Lord placed two pale hands on Draco's armored shoulders and said, "Rise, my friend."

Draco slowly rose to his feet, still averting his gaze from the shadowy hole that should have been the Sith Lord's face. Timerius was one of the most powerful High Lords of Draco's hidden order. Rumor had it that he could drain years of one's life simply by touching them. Rumors surrounded most of the High Lords, but Draco personally knew that his Force Lightning could kill a man in high enough doses and his power of foresight was unmatched by even Xexero Savan.

"Your success in gathering new recruits has made the High Lords very proud," Timerius purred. He patted Draco's shoulder pads before tucking his arms into his robes.

"I have been away for over a year," Draco muttered, "and brought back more than one hundred new Stalker recruits. Any word on the newest?"

"Hett?" the High Lord said with an evil chuckle. "She is still in the dungeons. She has made great progress, but she still resists the ways of the Sith."

"I wish to speak to her," Draco said. "She is to be my apprentice."

"You will be allowed to speak with her if and when Xexero Savan allows it," Timerius said, a firm note coming into his voice. "Until then, you must rest."

Draco bowed his helmeted head and murmured, "As is thy bidding, master."

Timerius nodded his hooded head slowly, then brushed past him. As he passed, all the ambient light in the area seemed to die away for a moment. The light returned when the black-robed Sith Lord stepped out the door and disappeared from sight.

Draco stared after him, then turned to find another Sith staring at him. This time it was a woman with reflective black armor and a long cloak that fell to the floor. Her long black hair fell loosely over her shoulders and her eyes were daubed with dark makeup that made her eyes look as if they were sunken into her head. It made her look nightmarishly beautiful.

He bowed his head again. "Darth Varius," he greeted her.

She raised a single thin eyebrow. "After a year of absence, I would have thought you would be a bit more welcoming," she said, " _husband_."

"We have had this conversation before," Draco said, narrowing his yellow eyes behind his helmet. "Our marriage was one of necessity, not emotion."

"So you feel nothing for me?" she asked, folding her arms and standing consciously just outside the reach of his lightsaber. "Nothing at all?"

"I would kill you in your sleep simply to narrow the competition for promotion to High Lord," Draco said simply.

She smiled widely and clasped her hands in front of her. "As would I, husband. I dream of that moment every night."

He stepped past her and strode further into the hall. She bowed her head as he passed and murmured, "Until our next meeting, my lord."

Draco paused, then turned to her and said, "There is a ship on the landing pad. I stole it to follow my Stalkers here. The computers were code-locked with a technology unlike anything I've ever seen, but maybe some of the technicians might be able to break the codes."

Her lip curled slightly. "Prisoners and slaves, all of them. I wouldn't trust them not to steal the ship."

"Then get a group of Tyros to guard them," he snapped. "But if the ship has a database, it could provide the Order with invaluable intelligence about our enemies."

Varius' eyes flashed and she whispered, "Vader and Sidious."

"So I don't care if you have to post four of the High Lords themselves," Draco growled. "I want those computer files."

She bowed her head again, then swept away from him, heading for the slave's quarters. Draco watched her go, then turned and strode toward the Council Chambers, where he had been ordered to present his report of the past year of his mission.

Robed and hooded beings hurried past him, scuttling about on their private business. Draco paid them little mind as he strode toward the Council Chambers. As he walked, two Stalkers melted out of the crowd and began walking on each side of him.

Together, the three made a fearsome group and other Sith quickly stood aside to let them pass. As feared as they used to be by the Jedi, the Sith were equally afraid of Stalkers. They were the personal assassins of the High Council, and would kill anyone they were ordered to, from the youngest Tyro to Xexero Savan himself.

Draco was not well liked among the Sith Order for this reason, but there was no denying the respect with which the other Sith Lords regarded him and his Stalkers. They bowed their heads or averted their eyes, keeping a safe distance away.

Draco and his guards silently stepped into a turbolift leading down into the Council Chambers, buried far beneath the surface of the planet so the High Lords would be safe from orbital bombardment. The doors slid shut with a _snap_ and the lift began to descend.

"The High Lords are impressed with your services," Draco said to his guards. "You are to be rewarded."

"Our only reward will be to see the completion of our mission," one of the Stalkers rasped. "When the corpses of Sidious and his dog are set aflame."

Draco chuckled. "Good. You will make me proud."

"As is thy bidding, master," the two Stalker said simultaneously.

Then the doors slid open and they stepped into the antechamber that led to the Council Chambers. It was a dark hall made of black marble, with bubbling pools of magma flowing through either side of the room. A wide bridge stretched across the pool of lava, leading toward a door flanked by two armored Sith Warriors. Their contoured facemasks, which annoyingly reminded Draco of Darth Vader's helmet, tilted to face him as they crossed their activated lightsaber pikes in an X in front of him.

Draco stared at them through his own fearsome helmet and snarled, "The Council is expecting me."

"Entrance shall be allowed when the council themselves authorize it," one of the guards boomed in a deep monotone voice, " _assassin_."

Draco flexed a razor-bladed hand in frustration, then said, "If that is so, then alert them to my presence."

"The Council shall not be disturbed by such trivial matters," the guard snapped. "They will make the decision whether or not to-"

Draco snapped; he grabbed the guard by the throat, digging his bladed fingers into the man's neck and activating his lightsaber. The guard let out a surprised gasp and dropped his saber pike as Draco dug his finger blades into his throat.

The other guard leveled the red blade of his pike at Draco's chest. Before he could move, however, the two Stalkers ignited their own sabers and placed them between the guard and their leader.

"You will allow me to enter the Council Chambers," Draco snarled. "I have a report to give."

"N-not without the authorization of the High Lords," the guard gasped. "I will not allow you to-"

Those were the last words he said. Draco scowled behind his helmet faceplate and clenched his fist. The razor blades on his fingers cut deep into the man's body, severing the arteries in his throat. Blood spurted out, splattering Draco's faceplate. The Sith Lord slowly released the guard, letting his corpse fall to the floor with a thump. He flexed his bladed fingers, studying the dark blood that now stained the metal.

He slowly turned his dark scrutiny to the remaining guard and murmured, “Well?”

The guard glanced between the two lit lightsabers that were point at his chest, then stammered, “T-the Xexero Savan has granted you clearance to enter.”

“Good,” Draco snarled, unclenching his fist. “I knew you’d see reason.”

“Y-yes... my lord,” the guard gasped, falling to his knees.

The door leading to the council chambers slid open and Draco stepped past his Stalkers to enter. As he did, he gave a discreet nod to his disciples. A small grin stretched across his shielded face when he heard the guard suddenly scream, his voice cut short as one of the Stalkers severed his head.

No one defied Draco. Not even those under the command of Xexero Savan.

Then his Stalkers were at his shoulder again as he stepped into the dark, circular room that housed the High Council of Sith Lords. Within, thirteen dark thrones circled a meter-tall pyramidal holocron set into the center of the room. The holocron was the greatest treasure of Draco’s order, and it levitated over a pool of molten rock, held in a slightly-rotating antigravity field by centuries-old repulsors. The flickering light from the torches that lit the room raced across the contoured surface of the holocron, making it look like it pulsed with a living internal light.

Every one of the thirteen thrones were occupied by robed and hooded High Lords. Dominating it all was the colossal twelve-foot seat of Xexero Savan, who reclined in the luxurious throne with pale, emaciated skin and eyes that glowed red in the darkness.

“Lord Draco,” the Xexero said, gesturing to the armored Stalker leader with a wrinkled hand. “The High Council is pleased to see you returned. And with no less than seventy new Stalker recruits.”

He steepled his fingers and murmured, “Most impressive.”

Draco and his Stalkers sank to one knee, bowing their heads in respect. Draco raised his helmet slightly and whispered, “What is thy bidding, my masters?”

“We wish to hear the details of your mission,” said one of the Council Lords. “Especially regarding your newest recruit. The young woman seems quite resistant to our methods of conversion. Is she truly to be your apprentice?”

“It is true she possesses a rebellious spirit,” Draco said as he and his disciples rose to standing height again. “But she is powerful. Quite possibly more powerful than any of the other Stalkers I managed to convert. The fact that she resists our ways only proves that.”

“And what of your primary mission?” came a female voice. The Council Lady inclined her hooded head slightly and folded her pale hands in her lap as she asked, “What of Darths Sidious and Vader?”

Draco narrowed his eyes behind his faceplate and snarled, “Sidious, this so-called ‘Emperor’ hides behind an army of spies and bodyguards in a manner that brings shame to the Sith name. He rarely appears in public, and enforces his will through his subject’s fear of him rather than public displays of power.”

“Disgraceful,” one of the Council Lords spat. “That a Dark Lord of the Sith would cower behind non-sensitives.”

“But,” Draco continued, “his reign is not without power. He has expanded the borders of his Empire beyond those of even the most powerful days of the Old Republic. He holds these planets together with an iron grip and ruthless resolve. And his will is enforced by his apprentice, Darth Vader.”

Draco pulled out one of the holoprojectors from his belt and threw it to the floor of the Council Chamber. The life-sized hologram of Darth Vader sprang to life in front of the Lords.

The Sith Lords gasped as one, and Draco saw Xexero Savan's eyes widen in surprise as the black-armored Sith Lord placed his fists on his hips and surveyed the room as if he could see the Council members sitting before him. After a moment, the hologram sputtered and began replaying.

Draco wasn't surprised by the Council‘s fascination. He had been just as amazed himself by the technological advances that had been made in the millennia since the disappearance of the Sith. However, a year of sustained exposure to this new and bizarre galaxy had acclimated him to the changes.

One of the first things he'd done was familiarize himself with everything that had happened since the Battle of Ruusan and the exile of Darth Xexero. He was amazed at how much had changed; the galaxy had a new Senate, new soldiers known as 'clone troopers' or 'stormtroopers'. A new Jedi Council had even risen from the ashes of the old.

As much as he hated to say it, he had to admit a grudging respect for this Emperor Palpatine. It didn't take a genius to see that Darth Sidious had engineered the entire Clone War in order to wipe out the Jedi, though it was true that few other than a Sith Lord could recognize the intricacies of such a plan.

His apprentice, though...

"Darth Vader is another matter entirely," he said. "He is... more powerful than any Sith I have ever come across."

"You crossed sabers with this Lord?" Xexero Savan asked, raising a thin eyebrow questioningly.

Draco shook his helmeted head. "No, Xexero. But I have gotten close enough to him that I was able to sense his power. He is... unique."

"He is encased in a life suit," one of the Council Lords chuckled. "How big a threat can he pose?"

Draco just stared at the Lord through his helmet’s visor, clenching a razor-bladed fist. The Lord shifted uncomfortably, seeming to regret his hasty words. Xexero Savan saw the Lord's discomfort and chuckled.

"I have seen him snap an underling's neck with little more than a gesture," Draco said. "Reports state that he has enough power to rip a capital ship from the sky. He is unlike anything our order has seen before. It will not be easy to destroy him."

"Any being can be destroyed," Xexero Savan murmured. "It is only a matter of where to strike."

He leaned forward on his throne and said, "Now, Darth Draco, tell us about this new Empire."


	15. Beyond the Outer Rim

**Imperial Mining Outpost 32-B, Mustafar**

Vhetin and Jay grunted as they dragged the last Stalker's body up the ramp and into the shuttle. The Stalkers were much heavier than they looked, and their armor was too sharp to grip comfortably. Ge'tal, Kalyn, and Shuk'orok were already inside, strapping themselves in. Ge'tal was watching them, his gaze unreadable through his helmet visor as Jax chirped and curled around his legs.

"I still don't know why we have to bring them along," he said. "They take up too much room and they stink to _haran_."

"You want to head up against Draco wearing that?" Vhetin asked, nodding toward Ge'tal's armor. "Go right ahead."

"We're going to need some kind of disguise once we get to this mystery planet," Kalyn agreed. "Chances are good that Draco and his demented little Stalkers aren't the only Sith down there."

She turned to Vhetin and said, "But I'm still waiting to hear your grand plan to deal with this. If there are more Sith, what the hell are we going to do?"

"We're not going to do anything until we get Kestra back safe," Vhetin said, securing the four Stalker bodies with crash webbing. Shuk'orok was too big to wear the armor, so they'd have to think up a different story with him. Having him pose as a prisoner would probably do the trick.

As Jay secured herself in a nearby seat, Vhetin pulled one of the dead Stalker's helmets off and turned it over in his hands. He hesitated, then slipped it over the facemask he was still wearing and turned to the others.

"Well?" he asked. "How do I look?"

"Terrifying," Jay said.

"Badass," Ge'tal nodded.

"I'm getting this irresistible urge to shoot you," Kalyn said. She shrugged, then added, "But I'm not sure if that's just my normal feelings toward you."

"Ha ha," Vhetin said. He stood, keeping the helmet on, and slid into the pilot's seat of the shuttle. Shuk'orok was strapped into the copilot's seat and he let out a frustrated howl as Vhetin primed the ship's engines and ran a systems check for the third time.

"I don't think the Empire had Wookiees in mind when they designed this bucket of bolts," Vhetin muttered as he flipped switches and grasped the flight yoke. "Just do your best and I'll take care of the rest."

“When we get there,” Jay said slowly, “how are we going to get down to the surface? If these guys are anything like Draco, we’ll probably have to transmit some kind of code to be allowed to enter their space.”

“I’ll have Shuk’orok run through the ship files,” Vhetin said as he guided the shuttle through the ashy clouds. “If the code is there, we’ll find it.”

“And if not?”

“Then we’ll just say we’re there on urgent business for Draco,” he said. “He seemed to think he was pretty feared among his own people. Chances are they’ll leave us alone if they think we report directly to him.”

He turned and looked at Jay. “We’ll get through,” he said with a determined nod. “We haven’t gone this far to be stopped now.”

“Okay,” she said, shifting nervously in her seat. She readjusted her restraints, then rested her head against the seat back and closed her eyes.

”Shuk’orok,” Vhetin said, turning back to the front viewport, “set up the navicomputer.”

The Wookiee roared as he struggled to push the small Imperial-spec keypads with his large fingers. He succeeded after some difficulty, and Vhetin said, “Okay. Prepare for lightspeed everyone.”

“And speak up if you forgot to use the ‘fresher before we left,” Ge’tal muttered, “‘cause he’s not pulling over.”

The ship rotated to face a vector that would bring them straight toward their mystery planet. Vhetin narrowed his eyes in determination, then pushed a lever forward and the ship exploded into hyperspace.

~~~~~~~~

The next few hours were boring to say the least. The interior of the shuttle was cramped, stuffy, and – with four humans, a Twirl, and a Wookiee as passengers and four dead Sith Stalkers as cargo – had little space left over to even so much as shift a single leg. Ge’tal, who preferred bigger ships than this, found it irritating beyond belief. He fidgeted restlessly from almost the moment he sat down.

There was little to do other than engage in quiet conversation with each other, sleep, or just stare blankly ahead. Four hours into their journey and Shuk’orok was still perusing the computer files, Kalyn was dozing quietly in her seat, and Get’al was teaching Jay some rudimentary _Mando_ _’a_ words. Vhetin listened to the conversation with half an ear, half-asleep himself. He rubbed his neck, reaching under the mask covering his face to do so, then settled himself deeper in his seat.

“Okay,” Ge’tal said. His _buy_ _’ce_ was resting on his lap in stasis mode. “Let’s move on. Um… oh, what’s the word for sword?”

“ _Kad_ ,” Jay said quickly. “Venku taught me that one. He’s been teaching me some _Mando_ _’a_ words as well.”

Ge’tal was slightly irritated at the thought of another man spending more time with her than he was, but he shook the feeling off.

 _After all_ , he thought, _she said she just wanted to be friends. She doesn_ _’t want you to get too close._

He was still slightly angered by that comment. Was it something about him that turned her off? Was he not charming _enough?_ He was loads better than a moody, sulking _shabuir_ like Vhetin and the two of _them_ got along fine.

He took a calming breath, thinking, _Don_ _’t blame her. It’s your own fault for trying to sleep with her so soon after you first met her._

So  he smiled at her and said, “Okay, I’ve got one. What does the word _al_ _’verde_ mean?”

Jay frowned in concentration and said, “ _Verde_ means ‘warrior’ so I’m guessing _al_ _’verde_ is a step up from that?”

“Good guess,” he replied. “It means commander.”

“I’ve got one for you,” Jay said.

He was surprised, but humored her by raising an eyebrow and saying, “Oh? What is that?”

She grinned and said, “ _Kasska_. What’s it mean?”

“It’s not _Mando_ _’a_ ,” Ge’tal said slowly, thinking hard. “What language is it?”

“A Corellian slang word,” Jay said. “It’s not really part of a language. It’s just a word we sometimes use.”

“And it means?”

She grinned and said, “I don’t think I’d be allowed to say it out loud. It’s… not exactly polite.”

“Trust me,” Ge’tal said, “I’ve heard it all. Lay it on me.”

She bit her lip, hiding a grin, then leaned over and whispered the translation in his ear. He listened closely, then let out a laugh that he quickly stifled and Kalyn shifted in her seat with a frown on her face.

Shuk’orok leaned towards Vhetin and grumbled quietly. The black-armored Mandalorian shifted in his seat and began typing into the main control panel.

“Wow,” Ge’tal chuckled. “That’s pretty impressive. I guess a hundred different words for ‘stupid’ can’t compete with one that _really_ gets the point across. Can a Weequay even _do_ that to a refuse bin?”

Jay grinned widely and said, “Do you want to find out?”

He shook his head. “Ugh. No thanks. I‘m pretty sure that would be illegal.”

“I don’t mean to break up this most interesting conversation,” Kalyn muttered, keeping her eyes closed, “but this infiltration is going to prove to be a tough operation, and I’d like to get some rest before I engage in a suicide mission. Keep it down please?”

“Sorry to ruin your nap, Kalyn,” Vhetin said, “but the break’s over. The navicomputer just brought the hyperdrive to half-efficiency. We’re almost there.”

“Thank _te Manda_ ,” Ge’tal said, clapping his hands on his thigh plates. “I was getting a little restless.”

“Now,” Vhetin said, unstrapping himself from his crash webbing, “we need to change into this Stalker gear before we come out of hyperspace.”

He knelt and dragged the Stalkers into a neat line. They had only taken the bodies of those Stalkers whose armor seemed the right size for each of their body types. It hadn't been easy, but they'd each found a Stalker whose armor was probably close enough in size and shape for their armor to fit halfway-comfortably.

Ge'tal wasn't too excited about the masquerade. As he picked up one of the Stalker helmets, he saw that the helmet had no HUD. The visor was just a simple T-bar cutout from the metal.

He knew he would miss the myriad of systems and flood of information that his head's-up display provided. It offered invaluable tactical information and situational awareness that couldn't be beaten by any combat systems anywhere. The battle helmet of a Mandalorian warrior was top-rate technology, the best that money could buy, and no Sith armor, no matter how heavy, could even begin to compete.

As they began to change, Ge'tal and Vhetin respectfully turned their backs to Jay and Kalyn, giving the women the most privacy possible in the cramped cabin of the shuttle. Shuk'orok had stated on multiple occasions that he didn't find human physiology remotely interesting, so he kept plugging away at the computer terminal.

Still, Ge'tal's helmet had a 360-degree panoramic viewscreen in the top of his HUD, allowing him to see behind him. His eyes were instantly drawn to Jay, unable to tear his gaze away as she slid her jacket off and pulled her undershirt over her head. His gaze only grew wider as she tossed aside her combat pants. She was wearing a pale gray bra and panties of the same color, and Ge'tal found his gaze wandering over the smooth plains of her back, watching the way her body moved as she picked up the segmented chest plate and turned it over in her hands-

"Hey," Vhetin suddenly murmured, nudging him in the arm. Ge'tal started and saw that the other bounty hunter had already pulled his flak vest off, showing the intricate warrior's tattoo that stretched around his neck and down his right left arm. He’d kept his facemask on; big surprise there.

"What?" Ge'tal said, quickly pulling off his gauntlets and tossing them aside.

Vhetin stared at him with dark blue eyes that seemed to stare right through Ge'tal's visor faceplate. He turned his severe gaze to the helmet in his hands and murmured, "Keep your eyes forward."

"I am," Ge'tal said.

"Helmet off," Vhetin said. "Don't be stupid."

Ge'tal guiltily removed his helmet and set it on a nearby seat. He studied the segmented chest plate armor and grimaced. "This is kriffing crude. It's _durasteel_."

"It's not bad," came Jay's voice from behind him. Ge'tal fought the urge to turn his head as she said, "If you want something crude, try out Imperial flight suits. Those helmets don't do anything as far as cranial protection."

Vhetin adjusted his stolen combat boots that stopped below the knee and muttered, "If everything goes to plan, we won't need this gear for protection. We'll just sneak in and 'escort' Kestra to the shuttle."

"You still haven't told us how you're going to deal with all these Stalkers," Kalyn said. "And I'm getting kind of nervous just sitting around following your lead."

"What, you don't trust me?" Vhetin said, only half-joking.

"No."

"It's a safer plan if I'm the only one who knows about it,” he explained. “The fewer people know, the less likely these Stalkers will discover it."

"And if you're slotted," Kalyn said, "we're all screwed."

"If all these Sith are Force-sensitive, they'll be able to sense any nervousness,” Vhetin explained. “I’ve worked around Force-users before and the way they can feel this stuff is...”

“Creepy,” Jay supplied and he nodded.

“Expect anything,” he said as he pulled the contoured Stalker helmet over his head. Ge’tal pulled the armored vest over his own head, grimacing as the thick smell of foreign sweat wafted around him. “We’ll be lucky if they don’t manage to sense our plan from my mind. If _everyone_ knows the plan, the chances for failure just get higher.”

“I guess I have to agree with that,” Kalyn muttered grudgingly.

The suit left the wearer’s arms bare, and Ge’tal found himself hoping that his own collection of Mandalorian tattoos wouldn’t draw attention to them. He’d seen several of Draco’s minions with tattoos on their shoulders or forearms, so he didn’t think it would.

“Okay,” Kalyn’s voice said, “you guys can turn around now.”

Ge’tal sighed in relief as he turned, glad that he didn’t have to think about a half-naked Jay standing more or less right behind him. He quickly pulled the nightmarish Stalker helmet over his head to hide the deep blush that was spreading across his face.

Jay and Kalyn looked fearsome when sheathed in their own bulky Stalker armor. Jay was just pulling a glove over her left hand that featured razor-blade rings on each finger. She flexed her hands slowly and said, “I just hope they don’t ask us to try and crawl on the walls like those Stalker guys do.”

Ge’tal chuckled, awkwardly avoiding looking at her as Vhetin slowly handed each of them a cylindrical lightsaber. Each saber was an identical shaft of dull silver metal with red buttons, contoured grip, and a durasteel double-bayonet mounted against the blade emitter. He ran them through a quick safety briefing on using the weapons.

“I don’t think we’ll have to use them,” he began, “but just to be safe, I want to make sure you can use them if you have to.”

He turned his own stolen saber over in his hands and pointed to a red button near his thumb. “This is the activator,” he said. “Press it once to turn the blade on, click it again to turn it off. Every saber is equipped with a safety sensor that deactivates the blade if it leaves your hand.”

He flipped the blade over, pointing to the double-bayonet and the saber emitter. “The blade comes out this end, so _make absolutely sure_ it’s pointed away from you when you activate it.”

“Come on, Vhetin-” Kalyn began, but he interrupted her.

“It’s more difficult to remember than you might think and if one of you stabs themselves it’ll draw about as much attention as one of you jumping up and down and clucking like a nuna.”

Jay laughed and said, “So what else?”

He pointed to the hilt and to a small ring mounted into the bottom of the hilt. “This is the clip,” he said. He mimed hooking it to his belt and said, “It traditionally hangs on your right hip, but I don’t think it’ll matter much if you need it somewhere else.”

He activated the saber, making sure everyone was clear of it’s deadly blade. Shuk’orok howled in protest, but Vhetin ignored him and said, “If you find yourself in a position where you need to use it, make sure you remember that a lightsaber is _not_ like other melee weapons. It has no weight beyond the hilt, so be careful you don’t swing too hard and lose your balance.”

“It’s true,” Ge’tal said, nodding. He remembered the surprising ease with which he’d used the weapon earlier, which had quickly grown more difficult as he tried to keep up with the seemingly supernatural speed of his Stalker opponent. “You’ll be able to attack faster, but you’ll cut your legs off with no problem at all if you’re not careful.”

Shuk’orok barked from the copilot’s seat and Vhetin nodded and said, “Okay. We’ll be coming out of hyperspace in a few moments, so get ready.”

As he slid into the pilot’s seat, Ge’tal heard him mutter, “What about you, fuzzball? You ready to do your part?”

Shuk’orok tossed his furry head and let out an affirmative growl. Vhetin nodded and said, “Okay. As long as you don’t mind us setting you up with shock restraints when we head down there.”

The Wookiee nodded and grumbled. Vhetin flipped several switches and murmured, “Okay,” again. He reached above his head, toggling several switches and pulling a lever down. He glanced over his shoulder and said, “Strap yourselves in guys. We’re decelerating in two minutes.”

The three bounty hunters strapped themselves in, no small feat when trying to grasp the smooth crash webbing belts with razor-bladed fingers. Jay settled into the seat next to Ge’tal. She must have sensed his discomfort, because she touched his arm and said, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be all right.”

He chuckled, glad she didn’t know that he was nervous because of her. “I’m okay. Worried about Kestra, but otherwise fine. What about you? You had a pretty nasty run-in with Draco. Are you ready for this?”

She nodded her nightmarish helmet and said, “Ready to get Kestra, ready for some payback. Don’t worry about me.”

He smiled and said, “Listen… just in case we don’t make it-“

“Don’t talk like that.”

“I have to,” he said. “It’s a possibility.”

“We’ll be _fine_ ,” Jay pressed. “We’ve both been through worse.”

“You’ve done something more dangerous than attempting to infiltrate a hidden enclave of evil Force-users who would be able to kill you with their minds?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, maybe not. But we’ll make it out of this. These guys are mystics and philosophers, not bounty hunters like us. They can’t outmatch our combat capabilities.”

“Okay,” he said. “Let’s make a deal. If we do somehow make it out of this, can I see you again?”

She fidgeted slightly and said, “Ge’tal…”

“I’m telling the truth,” he said, staring at her through the narrow stripe of his helmet’s visor. “I would really like to see you again once all this is over.”

“I…” she hesitated, then sighed. “Ge’tal, I can’t. I want to, but… but I can’t.”

“Why not?” Ge’tal needed a reason. The question was tearing him up inside. “Why-“

“It’s not you,” she murmured. “But I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Is it Vhetin?”

She stared at him. “What?”

Ge’tal nodded toward the black-armored Mandalorian, who was preparing to bring the shuttle out of hyperspace.

“Is he the reason you don’t want to talk about it?” Ge’tal asked, turning back to Jay.

She stared at him, pointing to herself. “You think that… Vhetin and I…”

Then she burst out laughing. Ge’tal started, as did Vhetin in the pilot’s seat. The Mando turned in his seat and cocked his head curiously, then slowly turned back to the controls. Jay quickly stifled her laughter and whispered, “ _What_? You think Vhetin and I are _together_?”

She clapped the side of his head affectionately, the razor blades on her fingers making a sharp _clack_ as it hit his helmet. “You’re more _kasska_ than I thought, Ge’tal. Of _course_ not.”

Then what? What was keeping her away from him?

But she didn’t elaborate. She just turned her gaze away, still laughing quietly to herself. Ge’tal stared at her, then sighed and gave up.

He wasn’t going to lie and say it didn’t hurt, but she obviously wasn’t interested. She was keeping her affections carefully in check. Why, he could only guess now, but he had more important things to worry about now.

“Okay people,” Vhetin said. “Leaving hyperspace in three…two…one.”

With a surge of deceleration that sent everyone hurtling forward against their crash webbing, the shuttle exploded into realspace again. The ship had barely stopped bucking beneath their feet before Vhetin let out a loud curse and a loud explosion rang through the cockpit.

“What the hell is going on?” Kalyn shouted, grasping her crash belts firmly.

“Six fighters!” Vhetin shouted, grasping the control yoke and pushing down hard. The shuttle went into a powerful downward spin, but explosions still rocked the ship. “They were on us the moment we came out of hyperspace!”

“So much for sneaking in!” Ge’tal shouted. “Can you destroy them?”

“It’s a karking diplomatic shuttle!” Vhetin shouted, furiously trying to dodge incoming cannon fire that exploded in bright green flashes in the front viewport. “There are no weapons!”

“What are you going to do?” Jay asked. The ship shook hard enough to throw her against her crash webbing, but she was strangely calm. Ge’tal guessed she had been in situations like this a lot when she’d served in the Navy.

Vhetin cursed again, wrestling with the controls. “I’m going to head toward the planet. We may be able to lose them in the atmosphere.”

Ge’tal saw that there was indeed a planet in their vicinity; a dark, dirty gray orb run through with dark blue oceans and neon orange rivers of lava. If Vhetin’s intel was right, this was Xexeron, the planet where Draco’s Sith order was in hiding.

Then the viewport began to glow red-hot with flame as the shuttle tunneled into the planet’s outer atmosphere. Ge’tal had close his eyes and turn his gaze away from the glow. Normally his HUD would automatically polarize to protect his eyes, but the crude cutout visor of the Sith helmet offered no such luxury.

There was silence in the cockpit for the next few minutes, interrupted only by the sounds of cannon fire exploding outside and Vhetin’s quiet cursing as he tried to lose their pursuers. The ship shook violently as it rushed toward the planet, like a dropship in the middle of a storm of anti-aircraft fire.

Suddenly, the flames died away and the shuttle broke into the planet’s sky. There was a moment of complete silence as the shuttle hurtled over the clouds faster than the human eye could follow. Ge’tal saw huge towers of gray-white clouds flash past the front viewport as the shuttle bore down into a thunderstorm.

Then another huge explosion shook the ship as their pursuers followed them down, opening up with cannon fire again. A loud, muffled crash sounded from outside and Vhetin said, “Damn it! We just lost a meter of dorsal stabilizer wing!”

“Can you get control of her?”

He shook his head, yanking a cord from near his right knee from its housing and plugging it into a socket on the control console. “I don’t know. I’m going to try and set her down near that volcano down there. The scanners say it’s the largest collection of life forces on the planet. Hang on!”

Lightning forked down from the clouds around them, the following thunder muffled by the shuttle’s bulkheads. The Sith fighters were right on their tail, never missing a chance to fire at the foreign shuttle.

As they raced down to the planet’s surface, they lost more and more of the dorsal stabilizer wing; the fighters seemed to be focusing their fire on that section of the ship. As they finally broke through the clouds, spiraling wildly out of control, Vhetin plaid his last ace.

He slammed a fist down on the comm button and transmitted, “Attacking fighters, hold your fire! We are servants of the Dark Lord Draco, and your hostile action toward us will be severely punished! I repeat, we are servants of Darth Draco, and will have you executed because of your hostilities!”

But by then it was too late. He shouted in frustration and yanked back desperately on the control yoke as the ground grew swiftly closer. Ge’tal’s mind went blank, and he reached over and clasped Jay’s hand tightly in his own. She finally didn’t pull away.

“Cease your hostilities!” Vhetin continued, real fear entering his voice as the shuttle’s belly scraped across the top of a rock spire. A deafening screech rang through the cabin and a large section of the ship’s bulkhead peeled back with a tortured scream of metal. A sudden maelstrom tore through the cabin as the ship continued its wild descent.

“Son of a bitch!” Kalyn shouted as she pulled her legs away from the gash in the floor. The wind sucked at her feet, pulling her tightly against her crash webbing.

“We are servants of Darth Draco!” Ge’tal heard Vhetin shouting as the ship bucked and sped straight for the ground. “Damn it, hold on!”

Then the shuttle tunneled into a forest of dead, burnt trees, and Ge’tal’s vision went black.


	16. Stalking the Stalkers

Sparks fell from broken power cords on the ceiling, dancing across the bulkheads for a moment before flickering out. Jay blinked blood out of her eyes, her head pounding. She looked up from where she hung over her crash webbing, feeling her stolen Sith combat suit creak slightly as she did. The inside of the suit over the right side of her ribs was caked with dried blood, making the undersuit stiff and inflexible.

She slowly unbuckled herself from her restraints, groaning as her muscles screamed in protest. As her crash webbing unsnapped with a quiet _click_ , she fell forward onto her hands and knees, coughing. She was surprised to see black volcanic rock poking through the hole in the shuttle floor.

 _So we aren_ _’t dead_ , she thought, slowly getting to her feet. She saw a dark form slumped forward over the control console and she staggered over, putting a hand on his shoulder and hoarsely whispering, “Vhetin? You okay?”

He let out an unintelligible groan, which she decided to take as a yes. She next hobbled over to Ge’tal, who was beginning to stir. He slowly looked up, murmuring, “Damn... I’ve had more fun during collisions with duracrete walls.”

“Are you all right?” she asked him. He nodded in return and slowly unfastened his crash webbing. She grasped his forearm and hauled him to his feet.

“Where’s Jax?” he asked, looking around for the Twirl. The little canine alien was nowhere to be seen.

Vhetin sat up with a groan and said, “He’ll be back. He won’t stay away from Kestra for long.”

Kalyn was awake as well, shaking her helmeted head and cursing slightly.

“Next time,” she muttered, “I’m flying.”

Shuk’orok grumbled, blood soaking into the fur on his shoulder, and Vhetin said, “I agree with him. Next time you can step in at any moment. No one would think of stopping you.”

“I guess we’re still alive at least,” she said. “I have to give you that.”

Vhetin adjusted his Stalker helmet and said, “As much as I appreciate finally getting a compliment from you, Kalyn, let’s try to stay on target. We still have to find Kestra.”

“Speaking of which,” Jay said, stretching her sore muscles. The bones in her back cracked loudly as she did. “Do you have any idea where we are?”

He turned to the control console, which was now mostly a mess of broken panels and sparking wires that snaked out over the floor, and began carefully typing into one of the few remaining keypads.

Jay pulled her helmet off, wiping blood from her forehead. Ge’tal saw her wound, a slight laceration to her forehead caused by a piece of flying shrapnel from when the floor had been ripped away, and said, “Hold up a sec.”

He picked up his belt, which was hanging from a twisted piece of metal jutting out from a bulkhead, and pulled a clean brown rag from one of the pouches. He handed it to her and said, “Here. You can tie it up to use it as a bandage.”

She smiled slightly at him as she tied the rag around her bleeding forehead like a bandana. His concern for her was sweet, but it reminded her a little too much of… someone else. She silently reprimanded herself for allowing her thoughts to drift closer to memories of the past, and refocused on the task at hand.

“Okay,” Vhetin said, a slight note of relief entering his voice, “it looks like the onboard scanners managed to get a image capture of the area when we were crashing. So we’ve got a rough map.”

“Anything nearby?” Kalyn groaned, holding her head in her hands.

“There’s some kind of structure about six miles to the northwest,” Vhetin supplied. He plugged a handheld holoprojector into the console and downloaded the map. “It’s built into the side of a volcanic mountain. It might be where Draco’s Sith order is stationed.”

"That's going to be hours of hiking," Kalyn said. "Can we make it?"

"We should be able to make it before nightfall. And we don't want to be caught in the dark with these Stalker guys. If we work fast, we can infiltrate the enclave, get Kestra, and hopefully steal _Void_ back to get out of here."

He kicked at the control console, which emitted a high-pitched whine and threw sparks toward his face. " _Te Manda_ knows this piece of junk isn't going to fly again."

"Then what're we waiting for?" Jay said.

A low rumble sounded overhead and the ground suddenly began to quake beneath their feet. Jay's eyes snapped up toward the ceiling of the shuttle as the rumble resolved into the hum of a dropship's engines.

"That," Vhetin said, also staring at the ceiling. "I thought those Sith would be right on top of us when we crashed. We need a safe window of opportunity to get out of here."

As the rumble faded as the dropship continued its patrol, he said, "Okay. We need to split up. Jay, you're with me. Ge'tal, Farnmir, and Shuk'orok will head out in their own group."

"How will we infiltrate the enclave?" Kalyn asked, raising an eyebrow. "The thing is inside a volcano."

"It looks like there are patrol paths cut through whatever is left of the burned-out forest where we crashed," Vhetin said. "See if you can quietly tag along with one of the patrols. You'll be less likely to draw attention to yourself if you're traveling in a group. After that, we'll make our own ways to whatever detention facility they have in this facility."

He tossed a tiny handheld comm unit to everyone present and said, "Stay in constant contact. If you're attacked, don't keep it to yourself."

He projected the map into mid-air in front of them, holding the projector in his hand. He pointed to a small lake just south of the enclave, surrounded by an outcropping of tall rocks. It looked to Jay like the main source of water for the enclave; there were several large stone pipes leading to the volcano that housed the Sith fortress.

"If anything goes wrong," Vhetin said, "we meet up there."

"Okay," Kalyn said. She moved to grab her pistol, but Vhetin held out a hand to stop her.

"No," he said. "A Sith using a pistol would draw too much attention. Stick with the lightsaber."

"Great," she sighed. "So we're going to infiltrate a Stalker fortress _and_ we're forced to use weapons we've never used?"

"Stop complaining," Vhetin said, "and just get it done."

The rumble of the dropship came back and the dark landscape outside the front viewport lit up as a searchlight roamed over the area. Jay tensed as Vhetin ignited his red lightsaber and whispered, "In three... two... one..."

The dropship's engines faded into the distance and Vhetin plunged his saber into the bulkhead. He drew it around in a large, rough circle, working as quickly as he possibly could. When he'd melted through enough of the bulkhead he planted his boot in the center of the cutout and kicked a hole through the metal.

"Go, go, go!" Vhetin shouted, reminding Jay of an Ops Commander she'd served with during her Navy days.

Kalyn and Ge'tal leaped through the hole, disappearing into the darkness outside. Shuk'orok clambered after them, squeezing his massive frame through the hole in the bulkhead.

Vhetin jerked his helmeted head and said, "Out you go. I'll be right behind you."

She nodded, then slipped outside, into cold, fresh air. She sprinted blindly away from the shuttle for a time, then pressed her back to a tree. She took a deep breath and looked around for Vhetin. The cool air felt good after hours cooped up in that shuttle cabin, but her stolen Stalker armor wasn't designed for warmth. Her arms quickly broke out in goosebumps and she shivered slightly.

It looked as if they had crashed in the middle of a forest that had been charred by prolonged exposure to the ash of the volcano. But something was out of place; she rapped her knuckles against the tree, she realized that it wasn't burned wood, but stone. The trees had somehow been fossilized, stone monuments to their former lives.

She shuddered slightly, this time out of revulsion. Something about death masquerading as life reminded her of the Stalkers; half-mechanical, half-dead assassins who walked and fought like normal living beings. It was disturbing.

It wasn't long before she spotted another armored figure sprinting away from the shuttle. She let out a quiet hiss and Vhetin froze, his helmeted gaze looking around for the source of the noise. He saw her and relaxed, slowly stepping toward her.

"There you are," he said. "You okay?"

She cocked her head as she heard the telltale rumble of the dropship as it circled around again. "For now. Come on, let's move."

~~~~~~~~

Jay sprinted through the stone trees, aware of Vhetin right at her side.

"So," she panted, "when we find this Sith patrol, how are we going to get inside? What if they sense we're not like them?"

"Then we kill them," he said. "Hide the bodies, and wait for another patrol."

She laughed and he glanced at her, surprised. "What's so funny?"

"You," she said. "You're still going to adopt the 'barge in, guns blazing' routine against an entire army of Sith?"

"It's worked in the past," he said, "although, admittedly, on a smaller scale."

"Let's just hope that Ge'tal and the rest are as lucky," she said.

"They'll be fine," he reassured her. " _He'll_ be fine."

"What?" she said. They slowed as the dropship glided through the dark sky above them. Jay glanced up as the ship passed, silhouetted against they sky by flashes of dirty purple lightning. It was technically daytime, but the ash from a local range of volcanic mountains clogged the atmosphere with ashy clouds.

"I've seen the way you look at him," Vhetin said, amusement evident in his voice. "You like him."

"That's about it," she said. "I like him."

The contoured Stalker helmet seemed to stare right through her, and Vhetin said, "Brianna and I are masters of lying to ourselves and to each other. So I recognize when you're lying to yourself."

"I'm _not_ going to let this... relationship go any further," she said as they set off again. "We're just going to stay friends."

"Why not?" he said, sprinting up the face of a boulder jutting from the ground and front-flipped gymnastically as he fell to the ground again. He landed hard but kept sprinting. "Not that it's any of my business, but I think the two of you would make a good pair."

She glanced at him. "What?"

"Just an observation," he said. "Not that I'm an authority on the subject, but-"

"Why does everyone want to talk about this?" she said indignantly. "Can... can we just focus on the task at hand? Kestra still needs to be rescued."

"I'm optimistic," he said, swerving to avoid a petrified tree. "I can feel that she's alive."

"Some new trick of yours?"

"No," he said. "Like I said: just optimistic."

"I thought you were the one who said 'optimism only leads to disappointment,'" she said skeptically.

"I'm taking a rare break from my pessimism," he said. He was about to say more, but stopped short and held an arm out in front of her.

"Wait," he whispered. "Hold up. Someone's coming."

"How do you..." she began. Then she remembered that this was Vhetin she was talking about; his senses were as strangely enhanced as his physical attributes. So she didn't ask how he knew there was someone coming and instead hid behind a tree.

After a short time, she heard the crunch of a multitude of bootsteps on the hard ground underfoot. She chanced a peek around the tree trunk and saw a column of maybe twenty Sith marching down a dirt road. The sides of the road sloped upward into the dead forest, making the road a good site for ambushes. All of them had their lightsabers activated in their hands as a precaution.

 _Damn_ , she thought. _If we try and tag along without our lightsabers lit, we'll stick out. But if we activate them now, they'll hear the sound._

Vhetin seemed to be a step ahead of her. He unclipped his saber from his belt and pressed the bladed emitter against the trunk of the tree nearest to him. When he switched on the blade, the _snap-hiss_ of the activation was muffled against the stone trunk. He slowly pulled the blade out of the trunk and nodded at her to do the same.

Her palms were sweating and she struggled to grasp the lightsaber hilt with her razor-bladed gloves. She held the emitter against the tree trunk, a difficult task because of the double-bayonet that stretched from the emitter. She took a deep breath, screwed her eyes shut, and pressed the activation button. The lightsaber hilt twitched slightly in her hands and began to vibrate slightly. The _snap-hiss_ sounded deafening to her ears, but when she opened her eyes she saw Vhetin nod in approval.

She pulled the blade out of the petrified tree, the melted rock bubbling and dripping down the trunk as she did . Vhetin silently gestured toward the column as the Sith marched past. As soon as the troops were safely past, he quickly stepped down the slope, which was comprised of burned volcanic rocks. He quickly reached the road and calmly fell into step behind the rest of the Sith. He turned and jerked his head slightly for her to follow.

She quickly stepped out from behind the tree and crept down the slope. She was almost to the bottom when one of the magma rocks slipped under her foot and she stumbled with a quiet curse. Her slip-up sent a small cascade of rocks down the small hill. Her blood ran cold as the entire Sith column turned to face her.

She stopped mid-step as she felt multiple gazes fall on her. One of the Stalkers in the column stared at her and cocked his helmeted head.

"Is there a problem?" he rasped.

"N-no," Jay said, thankful that her own stolen Stalker helmet hid the look of terror on her face. She tried to make her voice sound more fearsome and evil and growled, "I just... tripped on a rock. Lost my footing. Nothing to concern yourselves with."

The Sith stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, then they slowly turned their gazes to the road ahead. One of the Stalkers at the head of the column raised his saber and motioned for them to move on. The column slowly began to move again as Jay fell into step next to Vhetin.

"That was too close," she whispered, almost under her breath.

He didn't reply; a sign for her to stay silent. She followed his lead and didn't speak again, keeping her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the road ahead.

 _Here we go_ , she thought. _Behind enemy lines, no backup, no escape, no sign of our quarry... this is not going to end well._

The two bounty hunters shadowed the column for almost an hour before Jay realized they were walking in a gigantic circle. She once again heard the rumble of the dropship as it performed its rounds and she saw a dark plume of smoke rising into the black sky not far away; the wreckage of their shuttle.

But the column made no move to investigate, walking right past the tower of smoke and further into the rock forest. They walked in silence for an hour more before the forest began to taper off into plains of charred rock as far as the eye could see. Rising from the plain, maybe a mile or two away, was a huge volcano that spewed a cloud of ash miles into the air. White-hot lava coated the tall spire of the volcano, dribbling down the face of the mountain in bright rivers of molten rock.

Even from a fair distance away, Jay could see a large staircase leading up into a miles-long crevice in the volcano. If the enclave was anywhere, it would be in there, and she assumed that was where the column was heading: back to base.

Sure enough, the column leader raised his saber again and ordered his soldiers on, barking orders for them to move out. The column began marching toward the volcano and Jay flexed her grip on her saber hilt nervously. The blade hummed comfortingly in her hand as she thought, _Inside that volcano is Kestra. And Draco. And probably hundreds of Sith, all of whom have lightsabers and can use the Force._

She felt Vhetin’s arm brush hers, a gesture she knew wasn’t on purpose. He must have sensed her nervousness, and was trying to reassure her. It took less than five minutes for them to reach the foot of the staircase, and they slowly began their long climb into the mountain.

After fifteen minutes of climbing the huge stone staircase, Jay’s legs began to burn. She hid the discomfort, however, painfully aware of the fact that these Sith would be able to sense her thoughts if her emotions were too strong.

She almost stopped walking completely when they entered the shadow of the volcano, where the colossal crevice blocked out the dark sky, throwing them into pitch darkness. Thankfully the scarlet glow of the Sith lightsabers illuminated the area around them, showing them the way.

But the eerie glow wasn’t what caused Jay’s astonishment. No, her surprise was caused by the two huge statues that flanked the crevice; hundred-foot-tall robed monoliths with huge stone lightsabers. Their stony robes swirled around them as they stretched their arms protectively forward, as if about to unleash a barrage of rocky Sith Lightning. Jay shuddered at the thought.

As one, the Sith soldiers snapped their fists to their chests and bowed their heads in respect as they passed the robed statues. Instinct kicked in and Jay followed suit almost immediately, slapping her fist to her chest and bowing her helmeted head along with the rest. She was vaguely aware of Vhetin doing the same at her side.

After passing the huge stone sentinels, it was another twenty minutes of stair-climbing before a large building came into view. Carved out of the living rock of the volcano, it was a large boxy temple with more hundred-foot statues flanking it on either side. In a surprisingly expansive courtyard, a large black flag was fluttering in the muggy volcanic breeze that sluggishly drifted through the area. A horned, toothed insignia was emblazoned on the flag, and it seemed to stare right at Jay as she passed it.

The column paid little attention to the other Sith — all either wearing robes or contoured black armor — that were gathered in the stone courtyard. The leader of the patrol column simply stepped toward the fifteen-foot stone doors leading into the enclave and hammered a fist against the thick rock.

“Patrol!” he shouted, throwing back his hood to reveal a bald, tattooed head. “Open the gates!”

There was a deep _clank_ , then the doors slowly rumbled open. The column began moving again, stepping through the doors and into a huge stone chamber, the high ceiling supported by thick pillars.

Vhetin put a razor-bladed hand on Jay’s arm and whispered, “Let’s break off here.”

The two discreetly slipped away from the column, sneaking away into a deserted side-hall. Vhetin double-checked that there was no one eavesdropping, then sighed and relaxed, whispering, “That went well.”

“We’re inside at least,” Jay breathed, nervously looking over her shoulder before leaning her back against the cool stone of the wall behind her.  “It’s a start.”

“Now that we’re inside, we shouldn’t have too much trouble.”

“How do you figure?” she said, frowning at him through the faceplate of her helmet. She pulled the heavy armor piece off and wiped her sweaty forehead. “These guys are telepathic. They’ll be able to sense if we’re so much as _thinking_ of escaping.”

“We won’t have trouble,” Vhetin said, “because we look like them. They’ll assume that we belong.”

“That seems like a pretty big assumption.”

“Did you ever pay attention to the flight techs when you were serving in the Navy?” he asked her. “They were in charge of keeping your ship in top condition, but did you ever suspect that they were intruders, or that they were sabotaging your equipment?”

She frowned thoughtfully. “Well, no. I guess not. I just-“

“Assumed that they were meant to be there,” Vhetin nodded. “These Sith may have a bunch of supernatural powers, but in big groups like this, they’re bound to be the same way.”

“Okay,” she said, “so how do we find where Kestra is being held?”

“How else?” he said as he turned away and began heading down the hall. “We’ll ask for directions.”

Jay started and moved to follow him, pulling her helmet back over her head.

 _I wonder if Ge_ _’tal and the others are doing this well,_ she thought.

~~~~~~~~

 _This is not going well_ , Ge’tal thought as he watched Kalyn shout at a hooded Sith guard, demanding to have access to the detention bay.

“We are servants of the Dark Lord Draco,” Kalyn snarled, flexing her razor-bladed hand threateningly. She jerked her helmeted head toward the massive furry form of Shuk’orok, who was bound by electro-shock shackles that barely wrapped around his thick wrists. “We must deliver this intruder to the dungeons.”

The Sith guard shook his hooded head, passing an activated lightsaber pike – not dissimilar from Vhetin’s preferred weapon – from one hand to the other. “No access is to be permitted without the direct authority of a Sith Lord. No lowly Knight such as yourself will convince me otherwise.”

“Would you rather Lord Draco himself was called upon to persuade you otherwise?” Kalyn said, her voice menacing when sounding from inside her contoured Stalker helmet.

The guard shifted nervously from foot to foot. The thought of the Lord of the Stalkers himself being summoned for such a menial task was obviously not appealing. Ge’tal wasn’t surprised that cheeky underling would not be tolerated in a colony such as this.

“Very well,” the man sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Bring this… thing into the dungeons, then return. This area is restricted to all but Knights.”

“Your cooperation will not go unforgotten,” Kalyn said, bowing her head with a cool grace that Ge’tal found surprising, coming from a gruff Kath Hound like Kalyn.

The guard grudgingly stepped aside to allow them to pass and Kalyn yanked on Shuk’orok’s restraints to pull him along into the dungeon. Ge’tal silently waited outside, hooking his hands behind his back as he stood guard over their exit.

He was surprised when she reappeared only a few minutes later, dragging Shuk’orok along with her. He frowned behind his helmet, but said nothing.

“Guard,” Kalyn said, “all these cells are full.”

The Sith stared at her and said, “What? My shift report said-“

“Never mind,” Kalyn snapped. “I will take the prisoner to one of the other cell blocks. Next time, make sure you have extra space for unexpected arrivals.”

The guard grudgingly bowed his head and said, “As you wish.”

She shoved Shuk’rok roughly in front of her as they headed back down the hall and deeper into the enclave.

“What the _shab_ went wrong?” Ge’tal hissed as soon as he knew they were out of earshot of the guard.

“She wasn’t there,” Kalyn muttered. Shuk’orok snuffled in agreement.

“What?” Ge’tal said disbelievingly. “All this work and Kestra wasn’t in there?”

“Keep your durasteel britches on,” Kalyn snapped. “She just wasn’t in their max-security block.”

“They wouldn’t keep her in any of the lower-spec cells,” he said. “She would definitely try to escape.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Kalyn said. “My guess is that someone is transferring her, or she’s being kept in a private cell.”

“Draco?”

“That’s my thought,” she said. She ducked into a side hall and pulled the comlink Vhetin had given her from out of the sleeve of her razor-bladed glove. She pressed the transmission button and hissed, “Vhetin. Vhetin come in.”

“Here,” came the Mandalorian’s quiet voice. “What’s wrong?”

“We just infiltrated the dungeons,” Kalyn reported, “and there’s no Kestra.”

There was a long silence over Vhetin’s end of the comm. Then he said, “Draco must have her.”

“That’s our theory,” she whispered. “What do you want us to do?”

“We have two objectives here,” he murmured. “One is to find Kestra, the other is to escape this Force-forsaken rock. Kalyn, you and Shuk’orok need to split up with Ge’tal and see if you can find _Void_. We’ll comm you when we’re on our way. Ge’tal, you need to meet up with Jay and me so the three of us can track down Kestra.”

Shuk’orok let out a snarl, signifying that he wanted to find his kidnapped pilot. Ge’tal didn’t blame him; the Wookiee had a life-debt to repay.

“Sorry, fuzzball,” Ge’tal said sympathetically, “but you just draw too much attention. You can rescue the damsel in distress next time.”

The Wookiee grudgingly agreed, letting out a frustrated grumble.

“Where are you guys?” Ge’tal asked.

“You can find us in the second hall branching off from the main chamber,” Vhetin said. “Make it quick; we can look like we’re standing guard for a while, but that won’t work forever.”

“Copy that,” Ge’tal said, and wordlessly set off.

They were close now. If they had to alter their plan, so be it. But he was not going to get so close to saving Kestra only to be stopped now. Nothing else mattered, and even his affection for Jay paled by comparison.

“Hold on, _Kes_ _’ika_ ,” he whispered to himself. “I don’t know if you can sense us, but we’re coming for you.”

He was only slightly nervous as he strode past armored and robed Sith. The other beings barely spared him a second glance, hurrying about on their own business.

He found Vhetin and Jay just where they'd said they would be; in the second hall that lead away from the large central chamber. It was slightly difficult to recognize them, dressed in their menacing Stalker armor. But once they gestured for him to hurry up, he relaxed.

"You guys okay?" he whispered as he drew closer.

"Fine," Vhetin said. "What's the verdict on Kestra?"

"No idea where she is," he sighed. "Any idea where Draco is?"

Jay nodded. "We asked a Sith we passed a while ago. Draco is in some kind of meditation chamber in the center of the mountain. Kestra is with him."

"Wait, wait, wait," Ge'tal interjected. "You asked a _Sith_? Like, just walked up and said, 'Hey, any idea where we can find our buddy Draco?'"

"A little subtler than that," Jay murmured, "but yeah. From what we were able to gather, this meditation chamber is a platform situated over the lava chamber beneath the volcano, the center of its power."

"Easy to see why the Sith would enjoy it so much," Ge'tal muttered. "Any idea about their defenses?"

"We're probably looking at a small contingent of Stalker guards," Vhetin explained. "The Sith we questioned said that Draco has three lieutenants who travel with him at all times: Xenophon, Tillipi, and Balor. We'll probably have to go through them to get at Draco."

"One for each of us," Ge'tal said, punching his fist into his palm. "This shouldn't be too difficult."

"Except for the fact that if we manage to take out Draco's lieutenants, _and_ kill Draco, _and_ rescue Kestra... the entire enclave is going to know we're here."

Vhetin chuckled darkly. "I have a plan for that. Don't worry."

"I'm going to worry as long as you keep that plan a secret," Jay snapped, her words echoing slightly inside her helmet as she raised her voice above a whisper. "I can't help it."

"We'll have a window when the time comes," Vhetin said. He turned and began walking away down the hall. He silently gestured for them to follow.

"Ever realize that he can be even more mysterious than these Stalkers?" Ge'tal muttered to Jay as they set off.

"I'm willing to play along for now," she replied. "We're so close now to finding Kestra that even his weird attitude can't get to me."

"Yeah," Ge'tal said. "All we have to do is fight our way through three well-trained, über-evil Sith Lords."

She laughed quietly in amusement and said, "Well, when you put it like that..."

The emerged into a stone hallway crowded with Sith and had to keep quiet again. Vhetin motioned for them to follow, and together the three disappeared into the throng.


	17. Xenophon

Voices. Heat. Pain. She felt it all, but could see nothing.

"They are here," she heard a voice whisper. It was the voice of a young girl. It was... familiar, in a strange way. Like a song she'd heard on a HoloNet that she recognized, but didn't know the title of. Thinking hard, she realized that the voice was familiar because it was her voice.

"Good," rasped another voice. That voice she did recognize: her master. She felt his pride in her mind, pride at her growing power. There was a dark chuckle and her master said, "Where are they?"

She concentrated, her mind roving through the entire facility, slithering through the minds every man, woman, and child in the temple. She focused on their most pressing thoughts, searching for one in particular. She tossed each mind aside as she continued her search, knowing she was getting closer, ever closer...

There. Worry. Worry for a friend. It was there, swarming through this man's mind. It was the only thing this man, Vhetin, could think about. And it was easy to see into his mind; he was currently trying to see into hers. She could see him, kneeling outside with his hand pressed against the stone floor, trying to use psychometry to find out what was going on inside the meditation chamber. He felt her presence and suddenly ripped himself away, tearing his hand away from the floor.

She felt her lips turn upward in a grim smile, and she whispered, "Outside. Just beyond the antechamber, around the corner. Hoping to ambush us no less."

Another dark laugh from her master. She turned her gaze up toward him, even though she couldn't see, and whispered, "Would you like me to deal with them?"

"No. Leave them to my lieutenants. If they survive that encounter, they will have earned the right to cross sabers with us."

She bowed her head. "As you wish... my lord."

_~~~~~~~~_

Vhetin quickly tore his hand away from the floor, blinking quickly to wipe the memory of what he'd felt from his mind.

"What?" Jay asked, kneeling in front of him and looking worried. "What did you see?"

"I wasn't able to _see_ anything," he said, shaking his head as he pulled a razor-bladed glove back over his hand. "Something was blocking me. All I know is that whoever is in there knows we're out here."

"So much for the element of surprise," Ge'tal muttered. "Now what?"

Vhetin chanced a look around the corner. The three lieutenants were standing in front of a large set of stone double-doors, conversing quietly with each other.

"Okay," he said, pulling back behind the corner. "It looks like Draco's lieutenants still don't have a clue we're here. We're good."

"Then what're we waiting for?" Ge'tal said. He double-checked that his lightsaber was secure, then strode around the corner.

"Ge'tal," Jay whispered. "Don't be stupid-"

But the Mandalorian didn't listen to her, instead walking straight up to the Stalkers and saying, "Hi guys, how's it going?"

Then he drew his saber and slashed it up across the biggest Stalker's chest. The Sith let out a roaring scream and fell, clutching the wound. Ge'tal swung at the next closest enemy. But the Stalker, a woman, had her own saber activated and the two blades met in a shower of sparks.

"Damn it," Vhetin cursed, then drew his own saber and sprinted for the two Stalkers. Jay was right behind him, activating her saber as well.

Vhetin reached his opponent first, slamming his saber down against Xenophon's weapon. The Sith pushed him back, both with his own strength and a minor Force Push. Vhetin staggered back a few steps, whirling his saber in front of him. Xenophon leveled his hand and unleashed a barrage of Force Lightning. Vhetin brought his saber up and caught the lightning on the blade.

Meanwhile, Jay caught up to the Stalker woman who was fighting with Ge'tal and slashed at her helmet. Before the blow landed, however, the woman simply disappeared. One moment she was there and the next she was gone.

For a moment, everyone froze. Even Xenophon stopped dead, looking around for where the woman had gone. There was a puff of smoke and the woman reappeared behind Ge'tal, driving her saber forward at his back. Jay moved to block the strike, but the woman vanished again.

Xenophon let out a low chuckle and murmured, "Now see the true power of Dark Lady Tillipi."

Vhetin turned toward the Sith, ready to continue his duel, but found that he too was gone.

 _Oh come on_ , he thought, raising his red saber into a defensive position.

"I'm not liking this," Jay said, mimicking Vhetin's posture. "They can teleport now?"

"No," Vhetin said. "I'm thinking only Tillipi can teleport. Xenophon can turn invisible."

"That's not much better."

"Actually, it's better in that-"

Suddenly the _snap-hiss_ of a lightsaber sounded from behind him and a red bar of plasma erupted out of mid-air. Vhetin spun with unnatural speed, pivoting to face his sudden attacker just as Tillipi exploded into view right in front of Ge'tal. She drove her razor-bladed fist in an uppercut against Ge'tal's chin before teleporting behind him and slamming both fists against his back.

The Mandalorian was driven to his knees. Jay slashed at her, but Tillipi vanished again, reappearing a few feet away. She activated her saber and ran at Jay, teleporting right in front of her. The Stalker quickly batted her blade aside and grabbed her by the throat.

Vhetin lashed his boot across Xenophon's helmet, sending the Sith staggering away, and moved to help Jay. He stabbed at Tillipi's back, but she vanished again. Vhetin pulled short just before he rammed his saber through Jay's stomach.

"Whoa," she said, taking a step back. "Careful with that thing."

"Where'd she go?" he asked, looking around. "Is she... whoa!"

He ducked as Xenophon came rushing at him, lightsaber held high. Vhetin spun and slashed, catching him in the shoulder. The Stalker cursed loudly but spun and slammed his saber against Vhetin's again. Vhetin shoved his opponent back and the two exchanged blindingly fast blows, every strike a killing blow. Their fight brought them back around the corner, where Ge’tal and Jay were lost from sight.

Xenophon was an accomplished swordsman, to be sure, but he couldn't compete with the sheer ferocity of Vhetin's aggressive Teräs Käsi conversion moves. He made up for it by throwing in random bursts of Force Lightning or short blasts of telekinetic energy that sent Vhetin slightly off balance. Their slashes and stabs left red-hot gashes in the volcanic stone of the walls and floor and the sporadic storms of Force Lightning sent sparks skittering across the reflective black floor.

"Let me guess," Xenophon growled as he struggled to fend Vhetin off. "You plan to destroy us, then assassinate Darth Draco. I should have known Darth Varius would attempt something like this before long."

"Pretty perceptive," Vhetin grunted, "for someone who kidnaps teenage girls."

"Ah," the Stalker chuckled, though his laughter was strained by exertion. "So you are not Sith Assassins, but allies of Lord Draco's new apprentice."

"I won't let you hurt her," Vhetin snarled, landing a kick in Xenophon's segmented chest plate. The Sith stumbled back, but managed to deflect all of Vhetin's next furious attacks. "Not any more."

"You don't understand the power of the Dark Side. What can you, a lowly bounty hunter, do to stop us?"

“I think you’ll find I’m full of surprises,” Vhetin said, shoving both their sabers to the left and headbutting Xenophon hard in the faceplate. There was a loud _clang_ as their helmets slammed together, and the Sith cursed as he stepped back, holding his head.

Vhetin leaped into the air and landed both feet against the Sith lieutenant’s shoulders, sending him sprawling on his back on the floor. He stepped forward, driving his saber down at his opponent’s stomach. Before the saber could pierce the Stalker’s armor, however, his body shimmered and disappeared. Vhetin’s lightsaber sliced through nothing more than the stone floor beneath them.

He quickly pulled the saber out, slowly turning in a circle and said, “Among Mandalorians, cloaking technology is seen as a tool of cowards. Force Cloaking even more so.”

“Then you are fools,” rasped Xenophon’s voice, seemingly from thin air. “You of all people should know the use of all technologies as useful as this.”

“I said it’s seen as a cowardly piece of equipment,” Vhetin said, narrowing his eyes as he watched the air in front of him carefully. “Not that we don’t use it ourselves. I‘ve used cloaking shields myself on multiple occasions.”

There. A slight shimmer on the air, slowly trying to circle around him. He grinned behind his helmet and murmured, “So I know what to look for.”

He stabbed forward with his saber, and Xenophon seemed to melt out of thin air. He easily dodged the strike, pivoting gracefully before driving his own red blade toward his enemy. Vhetin caught the Stalker’s blade as it descended toward his helmet. He was driven to his knees by the strength of blow, but successfully stopped it. He fought to keep the blade from cutting through his head, grimacing from exertion.

"I've survived worse than you," he grunted, panting as his muscles strained to keep the blade from descending. “You’re barely a pushover.”

“So was your friend,” Xenophon rasped as he pushed against Vhetin’s saber. “It barely took Lord Draco... ten minutes to break her.”

Vhetin’s eyes widened, his blood going cold with fury. “You’re lying.”

“She barely stood a chance,” Xenophon chuckled, throwing all his weight against his blade. “She embraced the Stalker way with unprecedented speed. Lord Draco... is most optimistic about her future among our kind.”

“You’re lying!” Vhetin suddenly shoved Xenophon’s blade away. The Stalker staggered back with a curse before Vhetin spun his saber in front of him and stabbed him through the stomach.

Draco’s lieutenant went stiff, his lightsaber slipping slowly from his grip. He let out a quiet gasp, before collapsing in a clatter of armor plates.

Vhetin stood over his body, breathing hard. He ripped off his helmet as he deactivated his saber, nudging Xenophon’s body with the tip of his boot. When the Stalker didn’t move again, he turned to head back to Ge’tal and Jay.

~~~~~~~~

“Get her!” Jay shouted, ducking as a scarlet lightsaber blade flashed over her head.

Tillipi flashed in and out of existence all around them, teleporting back and forth between Jay and Ge’tal.

“What the hell do you think I’m doing?” Ge’tal shouted, frantically trying to keep the Stalker in sight. He pivoted on a single foot and slashed at the Stalker woman’s chest. She disappeared, reappearing in mid-air above him and driving her boots down into Ge’tal’s helmet forehead.

He cursed and collapsed as Tillipi somersaulted, coming to her feet and vanishing again. She rematerialized right in front Jay, driving her saber blade forward. Jay barely knocked the saber aside before the Stalker teleported behind her and tried again.

 _Flash, flash, flash._ Jay could barely keep up with Tillipi as the woman teleported across the room, attacking from a different angle every moment. She began to sweat, spinning back and forth as her opponent kept trying to get behind her.

“Ge’tal!” she shouted, trying to fend off blows from three different directions. “I need help!”

The Mandalorian came barreling out of nowhere, grabbing Tillipi around the waist in a classic _meshgeroya_ tackle. Tillipi shouted in surprise and teleported away. Ge’tal disappeared with her.

She appeared six feet above the floor, kicking Ge’tal away before vanishing again. He fell six feet to the ground and landed in a clatter of armor plating. Tillipi appeared again, towering over Ge’tal with her saber raised high.

“Ge’tal!” Jay shouted, racing for him. She knew before she first moved, however, that she wouldn’t be able to reach him in time. “ _Move_!”

He just groaned and struggled to rise to his hands and knees. Time seemed to slow, and Jay watched in horror as Tillipi’s saber blade descended toward Ge’tal’s head.

But before the Stalker woman could decapitate her friend, a dark figure seemed to melt out of the darkness behind her. A hand reached out a grasped the woman by the back of the neck, grasping the unprotected part of her armor under the rim of the Stalker helmet. A blaze of blue light exploded out of the shadowy figure’s eyes, mirrored by the blue light that erupted from beneath the T-bar cutout of Tillipi’s helmet.

A red bar of a lightsaber blade pierced the Stalker’s chest and she let out a high-pitched scream before crumpling to the ground. Vhetin stood over her, his eyes still glowing with a bright blue light. The glow slowly faded, and he deactivated his saber with a sigh.

“You okay?” he asked, holding out an arm for Ge’tal. The Mando gratefully accepted, letting Vhetin haul him to his feet.

“Yeah,” Ge’tal grunted, pulling off his helmet. His nose was bleeding, but he was otherwise fine. “I’m okay. Thanks for that. What exactly did you do to her?”

“Psychometry. I don’t do it often, but I can sometimes use it as a weapon. It can distract an enemy for the split-second needed to defeat them.”

Jay tossed her own helmet aside, readjusting her bandana bandage. The cut on her forehead was beginning to open up again, and she rubbed a slight trickle of blood from the side of her face. “Think you can use that on Draco?”

“Don’t bet on it,” he said. “He knows we’re coming. He’ll be prepared for anything.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” She passed her lightsaber hilt from hand to hand. “Every second we wait is a second Kestra could be killed.”

“Remember,” Vhetin said as he stepped toward the door, “Draco is going to have Kestra restrained somehow; she’d try to escape if she wasn’t. So be careful not to hurt her.”

“Final hurtle,” Ge’tal said, clapping Jay on the shoulder. “One more push and we’re done here.”

“Stay focused,” Vhetin murmured. “We’re not out of this yet.”

Then he pushed open the door and disappeared inside.


	18. The Dark Side

Vhetin stepped into the meditation chamber, a blast of heat hitting him in the face and making sweat break out on his forehead. He narrowed his eyes, squinting to see through the shimmering heat waves in the air.

The meditation chamber was a huge circular platform, anchored to the walls of the volcano by heavy support struts. Ash wafted up into the air from the deep pool of magma far below, swirling around in dizzying clouds of glowing embers.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Ge'tal muttered behind Vhetin. "I've had enough of kriffing volcano planets."

A dark, armored figure stood alone in the center of the platform, bladed hands hooked behind his back. The hot breeze blowing through the area blew about his black leathery belt-skirt, making it flutter against the light of the glowing magma far below the platform.

"Draco," Vhetin said, narrowing his eyes and activating his lightsaber.

The man looked up and slowly turned. He had segmented armor similar to typical Stalker gear, but it looked higher-spec than that of his grunts. It was comprised of polished chromium and a more flexible segmented chestplate, and his helmet had two heavy cheekflaps stretching around the helmet. An assortment of lightsabers was clipped to his belt, and his arms were sheathed in elbow-length black gloves, complete with the fearsome razor-bladed rings on his fingers.

"Cin Vhetin," the Sith Lord said. His voice was cold and gravelly and his breath came in dirty-sounding wheezes. His rasping voice echoed slightly within the confines of his helmet, making him sound like he was part droid.

He inclined his contoured helmet. "You are to be commended for making it this far. Any normal being would have surely been killed by my Stalkers. But to not only evade them, but infiltrate the very enclave where my order has made its home..."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Outstanding."

"I didn't come here for your insincere compliments," Vhetin growled. "Where is Kestra?"

Jay and Ge'tal stepped up next to him, also activating their stolen lightsabers. Draco looked between the two, then stared at Vhetin again.

"One last chance," Vhetin said, pointing his saber at the Stalker. "Hand Kestra over."

"It may be that she doesn't wish to be 'handed over,'" Draco murmured.

"What do you mean?"

The air rippled next to him, but this time not because of the heat rising from the magma lake beneath them. The heat ripples resolved into a human form, almost a head shorter than Draco. The heat waves slowly merged to become hooded black robes and gloves with angular razor blades. This new figure activated a bright scarlet lightsaber, holding the blade neutrally toward the floor.

"Meet my new apprentice," Draco said, gesturing to the new black-robed figure. "Darth Kastria."

Vhetin's eyes slowly widened in shock, and he numbly lowered his saber to his side. He slowly shook his head as the robed figure pulled back her dark hood to reveal sleek black hair, pale skin, and a diamond-shaped collection of tattoos that stretched across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose.

"K-Kestra?" he stammered.

She opened her eyes, revealing bright orange irises that seemed to pulsate with the glow of the magma lake far beneath them. She cocked her head and narrowed her orange eyes.

"My name is Darth Kastria,” she hissed.

He stepped forward, his bootsteps shuffling slightly. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Kestra. Get away from him."

"My name is _Darth Kastria_."

He held out his hand and said, "I... I've come all this way to bring you home. Kestra... come with me."

"It is a lost cause," Draco rasped, putting a protective hand on Kestra's shoulder. "Darth Kastria now belongs to me."

Vhetin had eyes only for Kestra. He took a step closer and whispered, "Kestra... come with me. Please."

"Cin..." Jay said warningly as Vhetin took another step closer.

"Please, Kestra," he said, still holding out his hand for her. He was now only a few feet away. One more step forward and he'd be able to touch her. "We've all been through so much to rescue you."

"I don't need to be rescued," Kestra said, a look of contempt on her face. "You've wasted your time."

Vhetin's hand fell, a look of horror crossing his masked face. She must have sensed it, because she sneered at him and said, "Step away."

"Why?" he whispered. " _Why_?"

"Why _not_?" she hissed at him, clenching gloved fingers capped with razor blades. "You all but abandoned me. You just left me to wander around the galaxy, not so much as a comm call when you _knew_ I was in trouble. You didn't care. What loyalty should I show toward you?"

"But... we've been through so much," he said, his eyes wide. Part of his mind kept refusing to accept this, and he felt a dizzy sensation as if he was dreaming. He took a slight step closer. "I don't understand. We've-"

Her saber swung up, stopping only inches from his stolen Stalker chestplate. She narrowed her orange eyes and growled, "You had your chance to play the part of the big brother, and you failed. Darth Draco is my teacher now. _Step. Away._ "

"Vhetin," Jay said slowly, "I don't think she's kidding. You might want to back up."

"We didn't come all this way," he snapped, "just to turn back now."

"Turn back, Cin," Kestra said, the slightest hint of concern sneaking into her voice. “I don't want to hurt you."

"I just... want to know _why_ ," he said, feeling desperation in his voice. He _was_ desperate; he had to know how he had failed so miserably. "Where did I go wrong?"

"Your teachings were spot-on, Stripes," she said, shrugging. "In fact, that's the reason I turned. You yourself told me that an intelligent warrior knows when to give in. That a smart soldier knows when the odds are so stacked against her that the choice is to surrender or die. And you know what? I chose.”

“So you fell for his lies?”

"It was a decision,” she replied, “between my master, who wanted to actually help me increase my power, or you, who only taught me because he was scared Ranek would beat him to a pulp if he didn't."

"That's not... that's not true," he said. "It wasn't... wasn't because of Ranek. I actually _cared_ about you. You were like a little sister to me."

"Don't," she snapped. "Don't try to justify your abandonment. Don't try to smother the past with all the sympathy you never gave me."

"Do you realize what you're saying?" he snapped. "I _made_ you! _Everything_ you know, _I_ taught you! So don't-"

" _Enough_!" Kestra shouted, throwing her fist forward. An explosive burst of telekinetic energy hit Vhetin in the chest, sending him flying head-over-heels through the air. He landed two meters away and slid across the smooth surface of the meditation platform. He grunted as he clambered to his feet, grabbing his lightsaber.

"One last chance," Kestra said, raising her chin imperiously. "As Darth Draco's apprentice, my word carries power within the halls of this temple. Leave us now, and you will not be harmed. You have my word."

She turned her blazing orange eyes on Jay and said, "Jay. We don't know each other well. Why would you sacrifice yourself for me? Would you die for the slim chance that I'll turn back to the light side?"

"Not for you," she said, helping Vhetin to his feet. She jerked her head toward her partner. "For him. Because _he_ asked me to."

Kestra snorted and shook her head. She then turned to Ge'tal and narrowed her eyes.

"What about you?" she asked. "You've got plenty more to live for than me. Think of all the women, all the _fun_ that you'll have in the years to come. Just walk away."

He stared at her, then sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. When he looked up again, his jaw was set in determination.

"No.” He looked at Vhetin and Jay and said, "I'm in this with these two. You're my best friend, Kestra, and I'm not just going to leave you behind."

She turned her cold scrutiny on Vhetin, who was suddenly breathing hard. She put her hands on her hips and raised a thin eyebrow.

"Well?" she said. "What about you? If you stay, you will die. Leave now. Go back to Mandalore, back to Brianna. Don't throw your life away for me."

He stared at the floor and gasped, "I... I can't. I couldn't go back knowing that I left without... without at least trying to bring you with me."

Kestra sighed and her shoulders slumped. She readjusted her grip on her lightsaber, her razor-bladed fingers tightening over the cylindrical hilt. She shook her head and murmured, "I had hoped I wouldn't have to do this. But if you won't leave... I guess you will have to face your destiny."

Draco had regarded the whole conversation with a gaze that was unreadable behind his contoured helmet. He slowly grasped one of the lightsaber hilts on his belt and ignited the blade. He flipped it around in a reverse Shien position, so the glowing blade was facing his shoulder.

"I gave you your chance," Kestra said, taking a step forward. "Now your fate is sealed."

"We're not going to give in without a fight," Vhetin said, his own blade activating with a loud _snap-hiss_. He raised it in a defensive Makashi stance and narrowed his eyes as he heard Ge'tal and Jay raising their own blades. His heart hardened with a dark determination, and he knew he would do whatever was necessary.

"If you really are this Darth Kastria," he said, stepping forward, "then Kestra is dead. And I need to stop you."

"If that's your wish," Kestra said softly.

"Ge'tal and Jay," Vhetin growled, taking a deep breath, "take Draco. Kastria is mine."

Ge'tal flexed his grip on his lightsaber blade and said, "If you have to kill her... make it quick. She's earned that much."

Vhetin said nothing, instead dashing through the floating embers toward Kastria with his blade held high. A vicious grin spread across her face and she also sprinted for him, dragging her lightsaber across the smooth ground and slicing a red-hot gash in the floor as she did.

As soon as she was near enough, she leaped high into the air and caught him in the head with a spinning kick. He cursed as he was knocked off his feet. He rolled back up just in time to block Kastria's next blow. She was quicker than he remembered, landing three slashes before he could barely blink. He had to pour all his considerable skill and speed into his defense.

She spun and slashed at his head, but he knelt and the blade passed over his head. He jumped forward and drove his shoulder into her chest, throwing her off balance. She was quick enough, however, to drag him down with her. He quickly took charge of the situation and front-flipped back to his feet, pushing off her shoulders and landing on his feet behind her. She quickly hopped up and swung her saber in an arc in front of her, the blade releasing a violent hum as she did.

Draco, meanwhile, stepped toward Jay and Ge'tal and unleashed a bolt of Force Lightning. The two both raised their sabers and caught the lightning in time, wincing as the arcs of purplish electricity arced from blade to blade. The Sith Lord suppressed the storm and leaped forward, slashing with his blade.

Vhetin and Kastria's blades slammed together with enough force to make both their arms shake from the impact. Vhetin put all his considerable strength behind his blade and shoved Kastria away. She quickly regained her balance and took her blade in a two-handed grip, narrowing her eyes. The hot volcanic wind sent her robe billowing out around her like dark wings.

"I didn't think it would come to this," she said, turning the hilt of her saber over in her hand. "I am truly sorry."

"Not as sorry as I am," Vhetin murmured, darting forward and striking with three quick blows that Kastria easily deflected. He backpedaled as she unleashed a bright blue stream of Force Lightning. He ducked and somersaulted forward, coming to his feet and slashing at her chest. She brought her saber down and deflected the blow, kicking out with her heavy boot and catching him in the chest. He slid away, across the smooth surface of the platform.

Meanwhile, Jay was also driven to her back as Draco landed more or less on top of her, slamming his saber against hers with unbelievable force. Ge'tal slammed his shoulder against the Sith Lord's back, knocking him away.

Draco cursed, thrown off balance. But he merely back-flipped over Ge'tal and Jay, landing a half-meter away and running at them again.

"Quick," Ge'tal snapped, grabbing Jay's arm. He hauled her to her feet and swung her around to face Draco. She snapped her arm out and slashed at the Sith Lord. The blow caught him in the chest and he staggered away, clutching at his smoking armor. When he straightened again, Jay saw that her saber had melted a wide gash in his flight suit, revealing yellowed, dead-looking skin.

He looked down at the cut, then began to laugh. He looked up at Jay and said, "Very good, young one. Not many can boast a hit against a Sith Lord."

Then he jumped forward again, his deadly intent translated into every movement of his armored body. Jay struggled to block his attacks, but was no match for a Sith Lord, trained in the ways of lightsaber combat.

Draco slid his saber along hers and scored a shallow burn across her bicep. She cried out in pain, instinctively releasing her lightsaber. Draco backhanded her across the face before blasting her in the chest with a powerful Force Push. She went flying bodily through the air, landing almost a meter away and sliding toward the edge of the meditation chamber.

She frantically scrabbled at the smooth surface, but was unable to get a firm grip on the floor. It was too late; momentum carried her too close to the edge. She skidded to the edge, feebly attempting to grab something to stop herself, then slipped off the platform and into open air.

“ _No!_ ” she heard Ge’tal shout in dismay.

Her eyes watered as she felt the hot volcanic air rush past her. _This is it_ , she thought. _I_ _’m about to die._

Then she shouted in surprise when a strong hand grabbed her wrist, abruptly halting her descent. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Ge’tal lying on his stomach, reaching over the edge and grasping her arm.

She stared at him with disbelief as he grinned and panted, “You didn’t think... I’d let you die without a second chance at showing you what a charming, gorgeous hunk I really am?”

She dangled there in mid-air, holding on to his arm literally for dear life. “I appreciate the gesture,” she gasped, her heart pounding, “but I’m still not going to sleep with you.”

A mock-scowl crossed his face, then he grunted as he pulled her back up to safety. As soon as she could she clambered up onto the meditation platform. She collapsed facedown onto the smooth surface, gasping for breath.

“That was too close,” she panted, pressing her face to the strangely cool surface of the platform.

He was about to reply when he suddenly frowned and said, “Where... where did Draco go?”

Jay looked up and saw that the armored Sith Lord was nowhere to be seen. She frowned as well and said, “I don’t know. Maybe he bugged out.”

“No time to rest, though,” he said, clambering to his feet. He nodded toward the flash of lightsaber blades and said, “It looks like Vhetin needs our help.”

Vhetin grimaced as sparks flew into his face. Kastria yanked back her lightsaber before pounding it against his again with little more than simple brute force.

"Why would I _ever_ show you leniency?" she shouted, lashing out with Teräs Käsi movements that Vhetin had first taught her, all those years ago. "Why, when all you ever wanted was for me to get out of your life?"

"I tried to give you the skills necessary to survive in a universe where the majority of beings would leave you dead in a gutter without a second thought!" Vhetin shouted back, using his superior reflexes to counter Kastria's power. "I tried to help you _live_!"

"You abandoned me! Left me to _die!_ "

"If that was true," he grunted as Kastria kneed him in the stomach, "... why would I have gone all this way to rescue you?"

"You're a coward," she said as the sabers flashed in front of them, throwing sparks into their faces. "You only came to _rescue_ me because you were scared of what Ranek would do to _you_ if you gave up without doing anything."

"That's not true," he shouted, landing a punch to her shoulder that sent her staggering dangerously close to the edge of the meditation platform. She swung her arms in wide circles for a moment, desperately trying to regain her balance. During her moment of distraction, Vhetin reached in, grabbed her by the throat, and threw her bodily in the other direction. She sprawled onto the platform and slid a few feet before clambering to her feet and running at him again.

"I worried about you every day whenever I learned you were in trouble," Vhetin growled as he worked to deflect her next attacks. He could feel sweat soaking through his facemask, and his muscles were beginning to quiver from exhaustion. He wouldn't be able to keep up this fight for long. "I never contacted you because I was afraid you would be in trouble and the distraction would get you killed."

"A poor excuse," Kastria said. "You're a liar, just like my Master said you were."

"Draco is _evil_!" Vhetin shouted. He was now the one being driven closer to the edge of the platform. He could feel the heat from the magma on his back as he was forced to backpedal from Kastria. "He's filled your head with lies!"

"It's no more than what you did to me!" she furiously shouted back.

Her eyes blazed and she suddenly landed a punch to his throat. He gagged and coughed, staggering slightly in surprise. She slammed his lightsaber away, knocking it far from his grasp, and seized his throat with her razor-bladed hand.

With a sneer, she pushed him back until he was leaning back over the lake of magma, far below. He struggled weakly and grabbed at her arm to keep from falling. She raised her saber for a killing blow.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let you go," she snarled, her eyes glowing bright orange. Her robes were blown about her body, making her look as if she were made of swirling black mist.

Vhetin coughed, choking because of her tight grip on his esophagus. "I... I can't."

She narrowed her eyes triumphantly. "I didn't think so."

"But I can show you," he continued.

"What?"

Then he swiftly pushed up her sleeve and grasped the flesh of her arm. He was dimly aware of an explosion of blue light erupting from both their eyes, and he heard her let out an agonized scream.

A rushing sound filled his head and an image flashed into his mind's eye. It was the first day of his training with Kestra, a day he remembered well.

 _"Careful,"_ _he'd said as Kestra had tried to penetrate his defenses. Her movements were powerful, but sloppy. He had easily been able to deflect her blows. "Don't put too much emphasis on strength alone. If you're speedy enough, your momentum will take care of that."_

_"Just..." she had grunted and punched at his chest. He'd caught it in his glove and she had cursed. "Stop moving so fast!"_

_"Start moving faster," he'd replied evenly. "I'm not going to go easier on you"_

_"Why not?" she had cried, her stance faltering. "I'm not as good a fighter as you! You can't just attack me with all your skill!"_

_"Why not? An enemy in real combat won't care if you can't fight as well as them."_

_"But you should! You're not an enemy... are you?"_

_He suddenly ducked inside her guard and hooked an arm around her leg, yanking forward and tripping her. She had landed hard on her back with a cry of pain._

_"No..." he had said, stepping back. "I'm not your enemy. But one day, that won't matter. You're going to come across someone who won't care. And I need to make sure you're ready for that day."_

Another rushing sound deafened all sound, and another image came to mind. This time, it was almost a year into their training, shortly after he'd put Ranek in the medcenter.

_“She’s just going to hurt you even more now,” she’d said, staring at Ranek through the observation window. She had folded her arms folded worriedly across her chest. “You almost crippled her.”_

_“I was trying to kill her_ , _” he’d replied point-blank. “She deserved it.”_

 _She had looked through the room_ _’s window, at the once-terrifying Ranek looking like a Korriban mummy all wrapped up in her bandages. “I think so too, the way she beat you. But you’re going to get in trouble. People like her don’t care about their own injuries. And now she isn’t going to stop until_ you’re _dead._ _”_

 _He had shaken his head._ _“Don’t worry. I’m skilled enough to defend myself now. In the end, I think that’s what she wanted_.”

_"And what about me?" she'd asked. "I'm not as experienced as you are. What if Ranek takes it all out on me?"_

_He had turned to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I promise it won't come to that."_

_"You can't make that promise."_

_"I can," he'd said. "You're my_ vod'ika _."_

_She'd smiled a little at that and said, "Little sister. And you're my ori'vod. Big brother."_

_"That gives me a responsibility,_ _” he said. “I’m responsible for your well-being.”_

_“You do realize that we’re not actually siblings, don't you?” she had said, raising an eyebrow._

_“We’re Mandalorians,” he’d replied. “_ Aliit ori'shya tal'din, _Kes_ _’ika. Family is more than bloodline. And I swear that I will never let any harm come to you.”_

“And you failed!” he heard Kastria shouting, sounding as if it were echoing toward him from down a long tunnel. “You _lied to me_!”

He concentrated hard and brought another of her memories to the forefront of her mind. Now, it was the last time he'd seen her before she’d been kidnapped.

 _“You sure you’ll be okay?” Rame had asked, surveying Kestra’s new ship, the_ Kar’ta Tor _. It had been docked in the Keldabe spaceport on a warm summer morning, ready for departure._

_Rame had pounded a fist on one curved bulkhead and shaken his head worriedly._ _“This bucket doesn’t look rated for hyperspace travel.”_

_“Hey,” Kestra had said, rubbing lubricant oil off her hands with a dirty rag as she tinkered with her ship, “she may not look like much, but she’s fast and she’s deadly. Don’t underestimate her.”_

_Vhetin had surveyed the ship as well through his helmet_ _’s T-visor. His HUD’s scans had shown him the ship was structurally tough, and every room could be sealed off in the event of a bulkhead breach. It was indeed not to be underestimated._

_“So,” he’d said, hooking his thumbs into his belt as his_ kama _had fluttered in the slight breeze._ _“You’ve got your first contract.”_

_She_ _’d beamed with pride. “Yep. Some Twi’lek who murdered his wife when he was drunk as a Hutt, then stole all her possessions. The victim’s sister wants him alive for seven hundred creds.”_

_He_ _’d nodded, impressed. “I’m proud of you,_ Kes’ika _. Just remember to be careful. Don_ _’t expect this guy to go down without a fight. And don’t-”_

_“Hey,” she’d said, flashing him a grin, “I can handle myself, Stripes. I’m not a little girl any more.”_

_“Thirteen years old and already hunting down dangerous criminals,” he’d said, cocking his helmeted head. “Most parents in the universe would disagree whole-heartedly.”_

_She_ _’d nudged him hard in the arm and said, “Sometimes I wonder if you’re more of a parent than a big brother. You worry enough to be my_ ba’buir _._ _”_

_“I have to worry,” he’d replied. “You don’t worry about anything. Besides, you’re one of the few friends I have. If all my friends went off and got themselves shot, where would I be?”_

_“There’s that utilitarianism coming into play,” she’d laughed. “Always thinking about what’s best for yourself.”_

_His smile had quickly faded._ _“You know that’s not true. I think about the situation as a whole, not just myself.”_

_“I know,” she’d said. “I’m just joking around. That’s another thing I’ve been wondering: do you have a sense of humor?”_

_“No,” he’d replied point-blank._

_She had laughed; it was a inside joke between the two. She tossed the rag back into one of her belt-pouches, then said,_ _“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me.”_

_Brianna, who was standing a little behind Vhetin, had spoken up then and said,_ _“Just remember that you have friends here. If you get into any trouble, don’t hesitate to comm. We will be there within the hour.”_

_She_ _’d smiled as she tapped in commands to her gauntlet-mounted datapad to warm the ship’s engines. “Thank you,” she had said. “That means a lot to me, actually.”_

_The_ Kar’ta Tor’s _engines had warmed to a cool blue and the shipboard repulsors had made the air tremble noticeably._

_“Good luck!” Brianna had called over the rumbling of the engines, smiling widely. Rame had waved, standing at her shoulder._

_Vhetin simply inclined his helmet in farewell and called,_ _“_ Oya, ner vod’ika _!_ _”_

 _She_ _’d grinned and shouted back, “_ Oya, ori’vod!”

_She had glanced at her ship, then back to Vhetin. She had bitten her lower lip, then sprinted toward him and hugged him tightly around the waist. He_ _’d stiffened slightly, unaccustomed to such affection from her._

_“_ Vor’e _,_ _” she’d said, hugging him tightly. “_ Vor’e gaa'taylir an. _Thank you for everything you_ _’ve done for me.”_

 _He_ _’d smiled slightly and patted her shoulder. “_ K'oyacyi, Kes’ika. _Be safe._ _”_

_“I will.” Then she had turned back to her ship, stepped up the ramp, and disappeared inside._

_As the ship lifted off, Vhetin had watched it rise above the rooftops of Keldabe. He_ _’d smiled a little wider and thought,_ Vor’e gaa’taylir an, Kes’ika. Thank you for all _you_ _’ve_ done for _me_. Ranek was right; teaching you taught me something about myself. You taught me that I’m not the psychopath everyone says I am, that I’m capable of having friends. And I’ll always be in your debt for that.

_Then he_ _’d turned away as he had felt Brianna take his hand. She’d smiled at him and together she, Vhetin, and Rame had left the spaceport._

With a sucking sound, Vhetin was pulled back to reality. Kastria was still holding him over the edge of the meditation platform, panting heavily.

He gasped and said, “If... you still think that I abandoned you after that... drop me. I deserve it.”

Kastria’s eyes were wide, and a single tear fell from her eye before evaporating in the hot, dry volcanic air. She let out a quiet gasp, trembling, and her yellow eyes faded back to their normal brown color. She blinked, then whispered, “C-cin? Oh _shab,_ what have I done?”

Then, out of shock than anything else, her grip on his throat loosened. Vhetin slipped from her grasp, letting out a gasp of surprise. He teetered over the precipice for a moment, unbalanced, then plummeted toward the lava far below.

"No! Cin!" Kestra screamed, dropping to her stomach and reaching out an arm to catch him. But he was already too far away, and had no hope of reaching her. He looked over his shoulder as he fell, watching the lava race closer and closer. Then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and resigned himself to his fate.

~~~~~~~~~

 

"Vhetin!" Jay shouted as she saw her partner's dark form go flying off the edge of the meditation platform. Kastria also screamed, dropping to her stomach and reaching out to catch him.

"Do something!" Jay cried, falling to her knees on the edge of the platform and peering over toward the lava. She could see Vhetin's dark form as it plunged toward certain death below.

"I'm trying!" Kastria shouted, stretching out her hand. A deep rumble sounded over the bubbling roar of the lava far below and her fingers began to tremble. Shortly after she gasped and let her arm hang limp.

"I can't!" she panted. "He's moving too fast!"

"Try harder! You're the kriffing Sith Lord!"

Kastria screwed up her face in concentration before raising her hand again. Another low rumble sounded in the air and Jay's eyes widened  when she saw Vhetin's form begin to slow. The air shimmered around him, like the heat waves that rose from the magma. He slowed to a halt, then slowly began to rise back toward the platform. In a matter of moments he soared over the edge and Kastria let him drop gently to the platform.

He fell to the ground and went limp, breathing hard. Jay instantly ran to his side and said, "Cin... are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, coughing and rubbing ash from his eyes. He slowly got to his hands and knees. Deep coughs wracked his whole body and he trembled violently from adrenaline. "I thought I was a goner for a minute there."

Jay nodded and her face suddenly turned down in a scowl. She turned to Kastria, who was being helped to her feet by a shaken-looking Ge‘tal, and strode toward her. As soon as she was close enough she lashed out with a vicious punch that caught Kastria in the cheek. The girl shouted in surprise as her head was whipped to the side.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Jay shouted, grabbing the Sith by the front of her robe. "You think you can try to kill us, then just have a change of heart? Huh?"

She punched Kastria again and was about to pull back for another blow when she felt Vhetin grab her by the shoulders and yank her away.

"What are you doing?" he snapped, pulling her out of punching distance.

"What the hell do you _think_ I'm doing?" she shouted back, trying to struggle out of his grip. "The bitch dropped you off the edge of the platform!"

"But she saved me," he said, holding her in an iron-hard grip.

"She tried to _kill_ you!"

"But she _saved me_ ," he said, his voice leaving no room for argument. "That forgives a lot in my mind. Besides, we've got more important things to worry about."

"Let go of me," Jay muttered.

"Are you going to behave?"

"Let _go_ of me," she repeated, and yanked herself out of his grip. She glared at Kastria — or back to Kestra, she didn't really care — but grudgingly kept her distance.

The girl gingerly touched the bruise already forming on her cheek and said, “You pack a pretty mean right cross, Jay.”

“Kriff you,” Jay spat.

Vhetin finally turned his intense scrutiny on Kestra and murmured, “Are you good now?”

“I’m not going to try and kill you again, no,” she said. She hesitated, then bit her lip and stared at Vhetin with a uneasy gaze. “Cin, I’m sorry. For everything. All those things I said-”

“Everything you told me was said when you were under a great deal of stress,” Vhetin interrupted. “Right now our main priority is getting out of here alive.”

“You will not be leaving this enclave,” came Draco’s voice.

Kestra suddenly gasped and clutched at her neck. The air shimmered and Draco faded into view, one razor-bladed clasped around her throat. He let out a snarl of frustration as he hoisted her into the air. Her feet dangled a few inches off the ground as he activated his lightsaber.

“You had such promise,” he murmured, raising the saber. Kestra’s brown eyes widened in fear and she began to struggle against the Sith Lord’s iron-hard grip. “It is truly a shame that it must end like this.”

Ge’tal was the first to act; throwing his arms Draco’s shoulders in a futile tackle from the rear. The Stalker leader barely flinched until Vhetin and Jay both barreled into his chest, knocking him off balance. He released Kestra, who collapsed to the floor coughing, and they all landed in a massive tangle of arms and legs.

Draco released a telekinetic shockwave that sent everyone flying head-over-heels away from him. Jay hit the door they had entered through and fell to the smooth platform floor, her head spinning.

Draco calmly picked himself up, retrieving his fallen lightsaber and activating it with a flourish. He brushed ash of his shoulder pad and turned his gaze on Vhetin, who was closest to him.

“Most unwise,” the Sith Lord said, raising his scarlet saber over his head. He was about to plunge the saber into Vhetin’s back when a blast of blinding blue-white Force Lightning erupted out of nowhere, hitting him in the chest and sending him staggering back.

“What?” he gasped in astonishment, clutching his chest as the storm abated. Jay looked up to see Kestra, her eyes blazing and her robe billowing out around her. The girl leveled her arms and unleashed another blast of lightning from her fingertips that brought Draco to his knees.

“You almost made me kill my own friends,” she snarled, hitting him with another bolt of lightning. “I won’t let you finish the job.”

As she loosed another storm of lightning, Draco razed his own razor-bladed hands and caught the electricity in his hands. The storm swirled in flashing, crackling orbs before arcing up his arms and disappearing. Kestra grimaced and took a step forward, releasing more power from her fingertips.

“Guys!” she shouted to her friends. “Get behind me!”

Jay staggered to her feet and did as she said, dimly aware of Vhetin and Ge’tal doing the same. The entire chamber was now shaking and hundred-foot-tall spouts of lava erupted from the deep pool far below the platform. Jay’s eyes began to water from the heat, and she squinted to see.

“You fool!” Draco shouted over the popping, snapping lightning. The electricity was now swirling around his arms in freakish blue-white whirlwinds. “If I can wield it, I can deflect it!”

“I’m counting on it!” Kestra shouted back. She suddenly threw her arms wide, cutting off the storm, then pushed both palms forward. A huge blast of energy hit Draco in the chest, sending him flying further into the room. He landed more than three meters away. Kestra spread her arms again and made fists of her hands.

Jay watched in amazement as the support cables anchoring the platform to the insides of the volcano buckled and twisted. Draco saw this too, because he scrambled to his feet and cried, “No!”

He unleashed a huge storm of lightning that completely enveloped Kestra’s body. Vhetin took a step forward to help her, but Ge’tal grabbed his arm and shouted, “No, wait! You can’t help her!”

Moments later the storm swirled around Kestra’s body, spinning around her arms before exploding out toward the support cables. The huge metal supports let out tortured screams, then snapped away from the walls completely.

“No!” Draco screamed again, stopping the flow of lightning and sprinting toward the hunters as the platform began to fall. As soon as he was close enough, however, Kestra let out a shout and hit him with another Force Push to the chest.

Draco plummeted into a collapsing mass of twisted metal girders and quickly-melting durasteel as the lava below exploded up to meet him. He disappeared into the mess with a last echoing scream. A moment later, the remains of the meditation platform sunk into the white-hot magma, disappearing from view.

Kestra stood on a ledge that had once been the main bridge out to the platform, hands clenched at her sides, breathing hard. Jay shook a strand of sweaty hair out of her eyes, looking at Kestra with newfound respect. She may have tried to slaughter them, but killing a Sith Lord got her a long way in Jay’s book.

Vhetin cautiously stepped up to the girl and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He nodded and said quietly, “You did well, Kestra.”

She shook her head and whispered, “No. He’s not dead.”

“What?” Ge’tal said, frowning and taking a step forward. “You... you did just see what we did, right? Sith Lord or not, _no one_ could have survived that.”

She shook her head again. “I can sense him. He’s not dead.”

“If that’s the case,” Vhetin said, “we’d better get out of here. Jay?”

“I’m on it,” she said. She pulled her comlink and dialed in Kalyn’s code. As soon as the huntress answered, she asked, “Kalyn. Glad to hear your voice. Have you secured _Void_?”

“And Kestra’s ship,” Kalyn replied. “It’s messy — there’s quite a few ex-Sith troops out here — but flight systems read green across the board.”

Jay gave Vhetin a thumbs-up and said, “We’re good to go.”

He nodded, then surprisingly grabbed his own comm and activated it. He dialed in a code and said, “Vapaad-Twenty, calling local command. Whenever you’re ready, guys.”

Then he deactivated the comm and tucked it into the back of his glove, where he’d be able to easily speak into it.

Jay frowned at him, cocking her head. “Who was that?”

“I’ll explain later,” he said, gently guiding Kestra toward the door. “Let’s go. We’re not out of this yet.”

Kestra nodded, grabbing two lightsabers from the ground. She kept one and handed the other to Vhetin. She looked to Ge’tal and Jay and said, “We’ll find you guys weapons along the way.”

Meanwhile, Vhetin said, “Heading out. We’ll be dressed as hostiles, so watch yourselves.”

Jay frowned at Ge’tal, who looked equally confused at the hunter’s comm call, but they quickly followed the other two out the door and into the hall beyond.


	19. Saved by Order 66

Vhetin had barely stepped through the door before he heard a wild war cry and he instinctively ducked. He saw a Stalker swing a scarlet saber at his head. Kestra quickly jumped into motion, grabbing the man by the shoulder and driving her saber into his gut. The man coughed and fell, dead before he hit the ground.

Barely breaking stride, Vhetin scooped up the man’s fallen lightsaber and tossed it to Jay. She caught it and activated the blade in time to block the blow of another hooded Sith. She deflected the slash and brought the saber up across the man’s chest, knocking him to the floor. She didn’t pause to see if he would rise again, just grabbed his saber, tossed it to Ge’tal, and kept moving.

“Come on!” Vhetin called, breaking into a run. Kestra must have already sensed his impatience; she was already at the end of the hall.

“What’s the rush?” Ge’tal asked as he and Jay broke into a run.

“No time!” he replied, checking the chrono on his comm unit.

As they emerged into the main hall, he saw that there were hooded and armored Sith running everywhere, some with activated lightsabers, some with antique blasters.

He saw the patrol column he and Jay had used for cover assembling in front of the doors. The Sith leader raised his saber and said, “Men! Move out!”

Then the doors swung open and the column charged out the door to the sound of blasterfire and screams. They had barely stepped through the door before a gravelly voice shouted "Open fire men!"

The doorway was filled with bright red blaster bolts and a single white cylinder rolled through the door. One of the Sith Lords picked up the cylinder, frowning curiously.

"Down!" Vhetin shouted, shoving Jay to the ground. A moment later the Sith Lord disappeared in a detonation of blazing white light. A huge explosion shook the hall, sending chunks of volcanic rock falling from the ceiling. One of the rocks hit Ge'tal in the shoulder and he grunted in pain. As soon as the explosion had faded, leaving scorched bodies in its wake, Vhetin hauled Jay back to her feet.

“What the kriff is going on?” she shouted as they began struggling through the crowd again. “Did this place break down into civil war in the minutes since we last saw it?”

Vhetin’s comm answered for her as they took cover down a side hall, watching as Sith sprinted in all different directions in blind panic. It sputtered to life and a voice said, “Vaapad-Twenty, come in.”

“Here,” Vhetin said, raising his arm. Again, Kestra seemed to be a step ahead of the rest. She was grinning from ear to ear as she listened to the transmission.

“Good to hear your voice, Vhetin,” sighed the voice. “If you’d died, I’d owe either Miss Moqena or Miss Bellan a rather substantial favor. And an upstanding commander such as myself cannot allow such an occurrence to take place.”

Jay frowned, finally catching on, and said, “Is that who I think it is?”

Vhetin grinned behind his facemask and said, “How long until the orbital bombardment?”

“As soon as we receive confirmation from our commando teams that this so-called High Council of Sith Lords has been destroyed.”

“Fifteen minutes?”

“Ten.”

Vhetin nodded and motioned for the rest of them to hurry. As he did, the voice from his comm said, “This is Fleet Commander Lonesh Pelano, Mon Calamari Imperial Seventh Armada. All topside ground units fall back to the gunships. Orbital bombardment in ten minutes, repeat ten minutes.”

“That’s the kriffing _Empire_?” Ge’tal said as they ran down another side hall packed with Sith hurrying for safety.

“Commander Pelano owes Jay and me a favor,” Vhetin said. “I called that favor in before we left.”

Jay laughed out loud, ducking out of the way of a towering Sith with heavy body armor. “So you gave the Empire the coordinates of this planet and told them there were Sith down here? Cin, that’s _genius_.”

“Save the congratulations until we’re out of here,” he said, shoving a Stalker out of the way as he ran.

He’d never been more relieved when he saw the door to the hangar platform come into view. He and Kestra quickly carved a hole in the door and kicked it in, covering Ge’tal and Jay as the two stepped through.

“You first,” Kestra said, jerking her head toward the door.

“Are you kidding?” Vhetin said, holding his saber in a defensive posture. “After all we’ve gone through to rescue you, I’m not letting you out of my sight. You get through there first.”

She opened her mouth to argue with him, then abruptly closed it and ducked through the large hole in the door. Vhetin took a last look up and down the hall, then moved through himself and sprinted toward the familiar shape of _Void_.

The sky was dark outside, dirty purple-white lightning flashing through the ashy clouds. A warm, dirty rain fell from the clouds, hitting Vhetin’s lightsaber blade and hissing slightly as it did. He paused to crane his neck upwards and could just barely make out the massive triangular shapes of three Imperial-class Star Destroyers as they descended through the atmosphere. South of the landing pad, he could also see the bright white armor of stormtroopers and the flash of red lightsabers as Imperial and Sith troops fought for control of the huge staircase leading toward the enclave.

“This is Commander Pelano,” sputtered his comlink. “Imperial Commando teams have confirmed the neutralization of the Sith High Council. Commencing aerial bombardment in two minutes. All ground forces _drop what you are doing_ and get to an evac vehicle.”

“Vhetin!” shouted Kestra from the ramp of the _Kar_ _’ta Tor,_ “Come on!”

He started and sprinted toward his own ship, very aware of the rumble in the air as the Star Destroyers charged their building-sized cannons.

Ge’tal and Jay were waiting for him as he hurried for the cockpit, as was, oddly enough, Jax.  The Twirl chirped at him, a bloodied Stalker helmet between his paws; he’d obviously been doing a little hunting of his own.

Vhetin received confirmation that Kalyn and Shuk’orok were onboard the _Kar_ _’ta Tor_ and that they were leaving no one behind. He quickly powered up the engines, not even bothering with the pre-flight system check, and pulled _Void_ into the air. With _Kar_ _’ta Tor_ right beside them, they roared off into the dark sky.

“Aerial bombardment commencing in three... two... one,” Pelano’s voice said. There was a flash of blinding white light as the Star Destroyers opened up with their huge cannons, instantly reducing the surface of the volcano to molten slag. The volcano responded to the sudden influx of heat and energy by suddenly erupting, sending a pillar of fire miles high into the dark air. Lightning crackled around the lava, painting the clouds a mottled purple-blue for a moment.

Nevertheless, the SDs continued to pound the side of the volcano with cannon fire until the entire mountain collapsed in on itself. Boulders that were easily four times as big as _Void_ went tumbling down the slopes of the volcano, carving out craters that could easily provide a landing zone for a mid-sized capital ship. Then there was a tremendous rumbling _crack_ that Vhetin could hear even from within his ship and the entire mountain exploded upward in an epic explosion of rock, fire, and magma. Vhetin watched in amazement as the sea of magma splattered against the bottom of one city-sized Star Destroyer, slopping against its shields for a moment before falling back to engulf the dark petrified forest below.

The miles of land surrounding the volcano were now situated under a massive sea of molten rock. The volcano itself was now little more than a torched mass of boulders bigger than buildings, between which spouted geysers of magma. The once-expansive Sith enclave was buried under that mess, no doubt destroyed beyond all possible recognition.

In less than twenty minutes, what had taken these Sith millennia to build had been reduced to a bloody, scorched ruin. Vhetin felt a momentary pang of sympathy, then remembered that these were the Sith that had sanctioned Kestra’s kidnapping.

“Wow,” Ge’tal said, craning his neck to watch. He let out an impressed whistle and said, “Now _that_ is one hell of a mess.”

Vhetin sat back in his seat, setting the ship on self-pilot as he closed his eyes and sighed explosively. “Leave the mess to the Empire. All we need to care about is that we all got out of there.”

“Damn right,” Ge’tal said, turning towards Jay with a triumphant grin. “And not a moment too soo-”

He was cut off as Jay suddenly grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him hard on the lips. His eyes flew wide for a moment, then he relaxed and kissed her back. They remained that way for a time before she slowly pulled away.

There was silence for a moment as the two just stared at each other. Then Ge'tal blinked and cleared his throat. “Um...” he said, staring at her dazedly. “What... what was that for?”

“For saving me,” she said, her face very serious, “back there in the meditation room. I would have fallen right off the edge of that platform if you hadn’t caught me.”

“Oh,” he said, grinning nervously. “Well, that... that was nothing. It was the least I could-”

He was interrupted again as she suddenly cocked her fist back and punched him in the face. He shouted in surprise as he was thrown back against the control console.

“Ow!” he said, holding his face. “What the _shab_ was _that_ for?”

“That’s for trying to get me to sleep with you,” she said, her face still very serious. “And you remember what I said if you tried that again?”

“Damn... yeah, yeah I do,” he said, rubbing his jaw.

“Good,” she said, then turned and strode out of the room without another word, rubbing her knuckles. The cockpit door slid shut with a hiss behind her.

Ge’tal stared after her in confusion, then turned to Vhetin and muttered, “I liked the kissing part better.”

Vhetin stared at him, then chuckled and turned back to the control console. “I’ll bet. But you can’t say you didn’t deserve it.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I guess I have to admit that.”

He said farewell, then stepped out of the cockpit as well. He looked up and down the hall, wary of another attack from Jay, then cautiously headed toward the circular center room.

The door slid shut behind him, leaving Vhetin in silence. He sighed and sat back in the seat, putting his hands behind his head and trying to ignore his sore muscles.

 _It_ _’s over,_ he thought with a pleased sigh. _It_ _’s all over, we’re all safe, and we’re all going back home._

The comm suddenly sputtered and Kestra’s quiet voice said, “Vhetin... are you there?”

He quickly sat up and said, “I’m here. You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she replied. “I just wanted to say... I really didn’t mean any of the things I said back there. I never thought you abandoned me. It just... I don’t know, it seemed that way after all that Draco showed me.”

“I understand,” he said, nodding. “It’s good to have you back. _Aliit ori'shya tal'din, vod_ _’ika_.”

He heard a soft laugh from the other side of the comm and she replied, “ _Aliit ori'shya tal'din, ori_ _’vod_.”

 

<From Imperial HoloNet Newscast TH-25C30>

 

_News Anchor:_ _“This just in... we are receiving reports that a major Naval fleet has been deployed to a previously unexplored planet that seems to have been a haven for Jedi  fugitives from the Clone Wars._

_(Image: bouncy helmet cam image of one of the stormtroopers fighting on the staircase leading to the enclave. Troopers are being mowed down at the front lines by hooded beings using lightsabers. Only the most trained eye could see that the sabers have been recolored to show up as blue and green.)_

_NA: The reports tell us that Fleet Commander Lonesh Pelano of the Mon Calamari Imperial Seventh Armada received an anonymous tip as to the whereabouts of this hidden Jedi enclave. Pelano, who was recently commended for his assistance in the capture of the dangerous terrorist Jolee Uruc in the Mon Cal city of Saiton, had this to say to us..._

_Pelano: I_ _’m just glad that we were able to bring these criminals to justice. We have troopers combing through the area for any survivors, but our preliminary patrols report one-hundred-percent efficiency._

_NA: A tactical achievement such as this only months after you assisted in the capture of Jolee Uruc... you must be gaining great approval from the Imperial Senate. I_ _’m sure our viewing public would not be surprised at a promotion in your near future._

_Pel: As always, I remain a loyal and obedient servant of the Emperor. I am certainly pleased by the work we_ _’ve accomplished here, but I am satisfied simply by knowing that more than one debt was paid here today._

_NA: We will watch the continuation of your career with great interest, Fleet Commander._

_Pel: Thank you._

_NA: The Emperor himself has yet to comment on this tremendous accomplishment, though his personal advisors have told us that he and his aide, Darth Vader, are planning a trip to the surface of the unknown planet personally. The Imperial Senate has applauded Commander Pelano_ _’s swift and decisive action before any Jedi could escape to further threaten the infrastructure of our great Empire._

_More on this story as it develops._


	20. Freedom

**Imperial Garrison Command, several miles north of Keldabe, Mandalore**

Vhetin watched the holoscreen with a skeptical eyebrow raised, arms folded across his chest. Jay was standing next to him with her hand resting casually on her pistol holster. Several steps away stood Kestra, Ge'tal, and Shuk'orok, who were also watching intently. Kalyn Farnmir stood behind them, leaning against the wall with her eyes narrowed.

The viewscreen showed the familiar T-shaped interior helmet view of an Imperial Commando helmet. There were three other bulky commandos in the man's view as they cautiously made their way down a long subterranean staircase. One of the commandos reached the corner and peeked around.

No sooner had he done so than there was a flash of red and the man's decapitated body fell to the ground.

"Contact! Contact!"

"Focus all firepower, commandos!"

"Move! Move!"

The staircase filled with red blaster bolts and a hooded Sith figure's body jerked about, his body riddled with a multitude of blaster bolts. He fell to the ground, twitching. One of the commandos stepped closer and fired three shots into the man's chest.

Moments later, the commando squad's CO stepped up and pulled the Sith Lord's hood back, revealing emaciated skin and dead yellow eyes.

Commander Pelano paused the recording and gestured to the dead Sith.

"That man was identified as the leader of the Sith forces, one Xexero Savan. Commandos neutralized him, then burned his body just to be certain."

"So you're sure he's dead?" Jay asked. "These Sith can do some weird things."

"I'm certain," Pelano nodded. "Unless he can reassemble himself from ashes scattered across the planet's surface."

"What about Draco?" Vhetin asked.

"Come again?"

"Darth Draco," Kestra explained. "A Sith Lord. A _very_ powerful Sith Lord."

Pelano shook his head. "I'm sorry, but casualty reports are listed at over six hundred Sith losses. It would be almost impossible to pick out a single one from that list."

"Besides," Ge'tal pointed out, "the entire karking mountain collapsed on top of him. Like I said, even a Sith couldn't survive _that_."

Pelano shut off the viewscreen and said, "I have assurances from those now in charge of the Sith extermination that your names will not be included in the official report. It will show that an anonymous tip provided the Empire with the location of the new planet Xexeron. Whatever you were doing there, it will remain your private business."

"Really?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow. "You would do that?"

Pelano looked at her and sighed. "Whatever the Empire did to you in the past, Miss Moqena, I assure you that there are those among us who understand the value of privacy. Whether you chose to believe it or not, your private business shall remain your private business as long as I am involved."

She slowly nodded, satisfied. "Okay. Thank you."

He tipped his head to her graciously before turning to the rest of them. "I am sure you know of the current bounty on Jedi. Official policy is to reward hunters with... quite a substantial amount of money. But unfortunately, to reward each of you would cost us over sixteen million credits."

He spread his hands in apology and said, "Far too big a hole in our budget for six bounty hunters who were technically never there."

"I understand," Vhetin said, nodding. "Keep your money. Ours was a rescue mission, not a business venture."

"Good."

Vhetin turned to Kalyn, staring at her through his helmet visor. One of the first things he'd done when he'd gotten back to Mandalore was to break out one of his replacement suits of armor; his old _beskar'gam_ was still inside the old Imperial shuttle on Xexeron, probably now buried under sixty feet of molten magma.

"What about you?" he asked.

"What about me?"

He cocked his head. "You were never technically a part of our group. You willing to take the reward?"

She shook her head. "I've got your money. And a good deal of your dignity. To me, that's more of a reward than even a hundred million Imp credits."

"If that is your wish," Pelano said, hooking his hands behind his back, "In the meantime, I must take my leave. As a newly appointed Moff, I have much business to attend to."

He nodded to each of the hunters, bowed his head to the huntresses, and stepped toward the door. He paused by Vhetin and glanced at him.

"Though I have no intentions of rejecting my new promotion," he murmured, "I will have you know that I lost quite a few good men serving as your distraction to escape from that enclave. Consider us even."

Vhetin bowed his head, mimicking Pelano's own gracious movement earlier. "Always a pleasure, Pelano."

Then the Imperial stepped out of the room, leaving the bounty hunters on their own. Kalyn stared at Vhetin for a moment, her green eyes flashing in the darkness, then she stood and left the room as well.

"Well," Ge'tal said, clapping his hands. "I for one am _so_ glad to be away from that volcanic hellhole of a planet. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the _Oyu'baat_ to see if Aramis' drinks are still as strong as I remember them."

"Wait up," Jay suddenly said, stepping after him as he, too, headed for the door. "I'm up for a drink, too. I have to talk to Venku anyway and he's never too far away."

Ge'tal looked slightly saddened that Jay's interest in him had finally waned, but he feigned a smile and said, "I'm always happy to have such pretty company."

Shuk'orok growled and stomped after them, letting out a series of grumbling barks. Ge'tal glanced up at the Wookiee and said, "No, I don't consider your furry hide pretty company."

Kestra and Vhetin were the only ones left in the room. She was staring at the darkened holoscreen while he kept his gaze on the floor. After a long time of silence, she cleared her throat and said, "Well... I guess this is it. I've got a new contract on Malastare next week. I'm not sure I'll be able to contact you while I'm working it."

He nodded. "Okay. You'll contact me when you're done?"

She didn't reply, and he didn't need her to; he already knew the answer. He sighed and turned away.

"Cin..." she said, taking a step toward him. "You know that I-"

"I know that you're self-dependent. And I know that anything I say won't stop you from doing what you want.

"And I'm willing to accept that," he said, looking up at her. "After all, you put up with it in me."

"Well, well, well," came a new voice from the doorway, "look who's finally grown up."

They both turned to see a tall woman clothed in black robes and dull black armor. The woman's pale face had a black rectangular tattoo on her bottom lip, and her entire upper lip was tattooed black. Her long black hair was pulled back in a long braid and a long black cape hung from her shoulders.

Vhetin's face turned down in a scowl when he saw her, and he clenched a fist.

"Ranek."

She stared at him with a cold, dark gaze and inclined her head slightly. "Vhetin. It's been a long time."

"You promised me that I would never see you again," he snarled.

"Word is traveling around Keldabe," Ranek said, taking a step into the room. "Rumors that Cin Vhetin and Jay Moqena, among others, were responsible for that miraculous Imperial strike on the Sith enclave. Naturally, I had to see if they were true."

"The rumors are true. Is that all you wanted?"

Kestra hid a grin. Ranek glanced at her and murmured, "And you. You were taken captive?"

Kestra nodded. "I was."

"You don't seem too worse for wear."

"I made it out all right," Kestra said, "thanks to Vhetin and his partner."

Ranek nodded, looking moderately impressed. She turned to Vhetin and said, "It looks like all I said about you was true."

"Yes, yes," Vhetin said, narrowing his eyes, "I'm a complete and utter psychopath, no one should trust me... we've been through all this before."

"Not that. I told you that one day you were going to have to face the death of a friend or family member. I told you that your reaction to that situation would define what kind of man you'd become. And you didn't disappoint."

He frowned behind his helmet. "How so?"

"You rushed to Kestra's rescue with no thought of personal injury," she said, raising an eyebrow. "You risked everything for your adopted family and committed yourself to your job with a ruthlessness truly befitting a Mandalorian."

"Thank... thank you?" Vhetin said, becoming increasingly confused.

"It wasn't a compliment," Ranek said. She held his gaze for a long time before she said, "But... in this case, I am rather pleased. You proved that there are certain things that you indeed care about more than yourself."

She drew in a deep breath and held out her hand. "So... I believe I owe you thanks. For rescuing Kestra, and for proving me wrong."

He stared at her hand for a long time, half-convinced that it was some trick so she could beat him within an inch of his life once again. He looked up into her cold, pale face and didn't move to shake.

Her expression didn't change as she lowered her hand. "If that's how you feel..."

"It is."

She nodded. "Then you and I will not see each other again. And now, it's not a promise. It's a guarantee."

"Make sure it's for real this time," he murmured. "Next time I see you, I may not be so polite."

She stared at him, then nodded slowly and turned back to the door and disappeared through it. Moments later, the ringing _boom_ of an Imperial-spec reinforced door echoed through the room.

Vhetin and Kestra glanced at each other in silence for a moment, then they both burst out laughing. Vhetin didn't find anything remotely funny about Ranek's appearance, but he reveled in the peace of this moment with Kestra and the happiness in knowing that they were both safe.

A _Mando'a_ expression came to mind that summed up the feeling perfectly: _Aliit jaon'yc ori'shya mayen._

_Family is more important than anything._

Yes, Vhetin was a firm believer in that fact and that was why even Ranek's appearance couldn't dampen his spirits. Family was indeed more important than anything; more than old vendettas, more than fear of death, even more than his own personal doubts and shortcomings. In the end, everything else paled by comparison.

"So," Kestra gasped as she fought to stifle her laughter, "you up for a drink at the _Oyu'baat_ as well, Stripes?"

"Drinks are on me," he said, gesturing to the door. "After you."

"Nuh-uh," she said. "I went through the door first back on Xexeron. It's your turn now."

He grinned and grudgingly stepped through the door and into the hall beyond.


	21. Revenge

**Planet Xexeron, Fifteen Parsecs into the Unknown Regions**

Two stormtroopers picked their way through the rubble that was all that remained of the Sith enclave. Ash rained down from the sky, kicked up by the fifty-meter explosions of magma from the new lava sea that still streamed out from the remains of the volcano.

"So," said trooper TT-320, "what's the deal with this place? Is it true that there were Jedi hiding out here?"

CD-983 shook his helmeted head and poked at a boulder with the barrel of his rifle. The rock was splattered with blood, but there was no body nearby. "Don't know. The guys from the twenty-fifth battalion saw the most combat on the stairs and they said that  the guys had red lightsabers."

"Red sabers? Like Vader?"

"Yeah, like Vader. Weird, huh?" 983 sighed. "The guys from the twenty-fifth also said the report that said the operation had a hundred-percent efficiency rate was a load of poodoo."

"What, so they weren't able to confirm that all the Force-users inside were killed?"

"The kriffing volcano collapsed," 983 said. "The explosion killed off most of the twenty-fifth. Of course they weren't able to confirm that the Force-users were killed."

"I guess it doesn't matter," 320 said, nudging a volcanic rock with his white armored boot. "Like you said, the volcano collapsed. Red lightsabers or no, they can't still be alive, right? I mean, even Lord Vader couldn't survive something like that."

"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" 983 said. "About why so many Imperial forces were deployed out here? Why we're still picking through this ruin?"

"Jedi are a threat to the peace of the Empire," 320 said. "And if they were allowed to survive-"

"They would have just been another crazy group of Force-users trying to run the galaxy," 983 interrupted. "Just like Vader. The guy can snap people's necks with his mind. What the kriff is up with that?"

"It's a powerful way to keeping your underlings under your control."

"Yeah, I guess I have to give you that one," 983 admitted. "But that doesn't qualify him to be first-gun to the Emperor and have hundreds of beings quake in fear at the sound of his name. If not-"

There was a clatter of rocks from behind them and both troopers spun towards the sound. Their rifles snapped up to track a dark figure that staggered out from behind a large volcanic boulder.

"Put your hands in the air!" 983 shouted, gesturing with his rifle. "On your knees!"

The humanoid being staggered into the light. His leather belt-skirt was scorched away and what remained of his armor was red-hot. His hands were covered by smoldering black gloves with razor-bladed fingers that were twisted and warped by high heat. He fell to his knees, letting out wracking coughs that shook his entire body.

"320, cuff him," 983 said, readjusting his grip on his rifle. "We're taking him to the captain."

"Affirmative." 320 stepped forward and unhooked a set of electro-shock binders from his utility belt.

He'd barely come within a meter of the armored man when the bladed glove snapped up and made a fist. 320 was hoisted into the air as if he were hooked onto rappelling lines. The trooper gasped and choked, clutching at his throat.

The armored man looked up, an ugly sounding wheeze emanating from his contoured helmet. The man clenched his fist harder and 320 went limp to the sound of crackling bones. Moments later 320 was tossed aside like a limp doll, his body clattering over the rocks before disappearing into the magma sea with a puff of smoke.

"Contact! Contact!" 983 shouted into his comm as he raised his rifle and fired off four shots. A bright scarlet bar of light lit up the darkness, batting away the blaster bolts with the speed of an Echani sword master. The laser bolts ricocheted into the air as the armored man slowly approached him.

983 screamed as he, too was hoisted into the air by a powerful invisible force. He grasped at the invisible hands that throttled the life out of him, his heart pounding. The air rumbled around him as the man stepped closer, his heavy boots crunching against the rocky ground.

Then the man simply flicked his wrist and pulled 983 toward him, impaling him on his activated lightsaber.

Darth Draco flicked his wrist again and let the stormtrooper's body fall to the ground. He nudged the corpse with his boot, then stepped past him. He narrowed his eyes, looking through the narrow T-strip visor of his helmet toward the roiling clouds and the three Imperial capital ships — these so-called "Star Destroyers" — that still hung over the remains of the volcano. He felt a dark rage boil up inside him and he clenched a fist in hatred.

His Order was in ruins, his Stalkers were decimated, and, with no way of escaping Xexeron's surface, his mission could very well be impossible to complete. And it was all thanks to those meddlesome Imperials and the surprisingly inventive bounty hunters.

Draco cocked his head and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he let the heat of his anger flow through his body. He could feel it like warm water lapping around his limbs, over his head, down his arms. It sent a thrill through his body, making a wide grin stretch across his hidden face.

The currents of the Dark Side told him that his Order could be rebuilt, his Stalker forces retrained, and that his mission, though impressively delayed, was still _very_ far from over.

A sudden moan brought him out of his reverie and his gaze snapped toward the sound. He saw a large rockslide with a large pool of blood leaking out from beneath the rocks. With a single gesture he lifted the rocks off the ground and tossed them several meters away. The absence of the stones revealed the twisted, crushed body of a woman in crushed black armor.

He knelt next to her with a sigh as she opened bloodshot eyes and whispered, "Darth Draco."

He inclined his head. "Darth Varius. No _husband_ now, I see."

She let out a weak chuckle that made blood bubble up out of her mouth. She blinked slowly and said, "The situation... is far too important to worry about such trivial matters."

"The mission," he murmured.

She nodded. "Y-you... are the last remnant of our order. You have... been entrusted with the... power to complete our mission."

She reached up and clasped his gloved hand tightly. Her eyes widened slightly with insistence as she struggled to get the words out before her life force slipped away.

"Find Sidious and... Vader," she gasped, her hand trembling as she clutched at him tighter. "Destroy them, and... bring peace to the galaxy. The peace that only the true Lords of the Sith can bring."

"It is my burden," Draco said, unclipping his saber again. He pressed it to her chest, his thumb hovering over the activation stud. "My purpose in life is to complete this mission. I _will_ kill these false Lords."

"For the Sith."

He nodded. "For the Sith."

Then he pressed the activation stud. Varius' eyes flew wide as the blade penetrated her chest, carving through flesh, muscle, and bone. Then she relaxed with a sigh and went limp.

Draco dropped her hand, a sneer crossing his face, and straightened again. He once again looked up into the ashy, cloudy sky, watching the Star Destroyers with interest.

Unless he was very much mistaken, they were his ticket off of Xexeron.

Yes. He would complete his mission. For the glory of the Sith and as retribution for his fallen order, he would complete his mission.

With a deadly determination translated into every movement of his body, he set off across the volcanic wasteland, ready for whatever came next.

* * *

 

_To be continued in Star Wars: White Snow: Recognition..._

_Darth Draco will return in Year 2 of Star Wars: White Snow._


	22. Next Time

_Next Time_ _…_

* * *

 

Summer has officially hit Mandalore, and Vhetin and Jay are making the most of the warm, sunny days to get some much-needed rest after many dangerous assignments. But when Jay becomes the target of mysterious assassins, she discovers that even Mandalore can be a very dangerous place.

With Vhetin and many other Mandalorians out of town, Jay's prospects for survival look grim. Even with Brianna Bellan and Mia Omotao to help her, she may not survive the inferno that is about to engulf her life. And as the huntress comes closer and closer to being discovered, it soon becomes apparent that Vhetin is not the only one with secrets...

* * *

 

_Featuring a guest appearance from the Mandalorian bounty hunter Mack, courtesy of UnknownOrigin45 on Deviantart. com._


End file.
